This should be the start of several announcements on this blog concerning some development projects that I currently have underway. I have developed a new website for people to find information about shopping in Kansas City. The site was built on the WordPress platform and includes several WordPress SEO plugins. Be sure to dig through the code and see what you can find.

Bear with me while the development continues and please feel free to leave me comments here or on the new Kansas City shopping website.

You can find the site by following one of the two links above or by directly navigating to ShoppingKansasCity.com.

Just as an FYI, my domaining site (NameBait.com) has finally started reporting a Google PageRank (2). The website came online October 8, 2008 and today is the first day I have noticed the PageRank. It is three months later.

Just a note, although I have not had a PageRank on NameBait.com up until today Google has still crawled the site several times each day.

I wrote another post on NameBait.com that gives a couple examples as to what I am seeing with the weight domain names appear to be providing now in the Google SERPs. There is no need to repeat the post over here, so drop over there and take a look if you are interested.

Someone wrote an excellent blog post over at NameBait.com regarding the weight that domain names appear to be adding to a website’s search engine rankings. You may want to run over there and take a look!

It is no wonder Yahoo is the number two search engine in the world. Early in October I started a new website called NameBait.com. The purpose of this new site is to cover the world of domain names and my fascination with it.

I run a WordPress blog on that site and have set it up to generate and update an XML site map automatically with each new post. Once the site map has been updated, each of the major three search engines is pinged to let them know of the update. Google drops by within minutes, if not seconds, to take a look at the new site map and to index the new page(s). Yahoo on the other hand may go several days without stopping by.

I am aware of the whole sandbox concept and understand that we are talking about a brand new site. Keep in mind though that the sandbox is typically attributed to Google and yet they make the best effort to check out the new content. Thank you Google. It is clear to me why you are the number one search engine.

I will say one nice thing about Yahoo even though it is more of a backhanded compliment. Yahoo has at least come by the site. Even though they are always way behind Google, at least they still play in the game. MSN and Ask have not even been by yet this month (November). Nice work guys. Now I am not saying I have great content or that what I write is groundbreaking earthshattering stuff, but it is interesting that you can see why some companies lead and others follow. All that just by checking log files.

I just noticed this morning that PageRank updates have occurred for a couple of my sites. I just thought I would mention it in case anyone has been waiting on an update.

My updates.
ChildInsure.com – From 2 to 3
ChildInsure.com Blog – From 0 to 2
InfoBriefs.com – From 2 to 3
MySpaceLayoutDirectory.com – From 2 to 3
SmokinSevens.com – From 0 to 2

Thanks Google. I appreciate the love. Do you have any more where that came from?

Domain names are a key aspect of the SEO mix. As such, I have been digging in to the world of domaining lately and have started a new domaining blog at NameBait.com. Go check it out and see what you think.

I am shipping out for SES (Search Engine Strategies) San Jose this Sunday. This is just a heads up to all of my adoring fans (Mom and Dad), so you can keep your eyes out for me in the halls, sessions, and bars. My autograph is still worthless, but you never know what it might be worth in a few years. I am willing to sign just about anything , so all you have to do is ask.

On a serious note, I look forward to the conference and can’t wait to mingle, learn, and dance with Google. See you there!

I have been researching black hat SEO tactics recently and I must say it has been very eye opening. Now understand that most of the techniques are only revealed after they have been recognized and neutralized. Rightfully so. Who would want to spout off about something that works and works well. But now to my point. The thing that separates the black hats from the white hats is creativity and willingness to use it. There are definitely some tactics that cross the line, but there are others that are just downright creative. I find myself wishing I had thought of them first. Congratulations to all of you out there who game the system and provide employment to some very smart engineers at Google, Yahoo, MSN, etc. I certainly enjoy the reading and can appreciate your willingness to experiment.

I have been developing some awesome SEO resources at TechnologicalMarketing.com. The purpose of TechnologicalMarketing.com is to study the application of technology to marketing. This can include anything from Podcasting, SEO, AdWords, etc. Come on over to the site and join in on the effort.