This short video shows how easy our new free Add-In works to make live links in Microsoft Excel 2007 / 2010. If you have to frequently spotcheck URLs in a spread sheet, I think you’ll love how much time it can save you.
When you want to visit any of the URLs, instead of having to copy and paste them from the cell into your browser address bar, or double click in the cell and then press ENTER, all you have to do is press a button once, and the links are all live and clickable.
If you like what you see, you can download our SEO Automatic Excel Add-in here.
I’m not sure why Microsoft couldn’t make Excel links live, but I’m sure glad that Karen Westerman, the Excel Queen could!
These days, having varied anchor text is more important than ever, and I’ve released a new link variance tool to make it a bit easier, and a lot faster for your writers.
If you’re an SEO that’s distributing content throughout the web, you should know by now that having too many inbound links with a certain phrase can actually be harmful, and not helpful.
Oddly, many SEO’s are still “playing by the old rules”, and are mistakenly building hundreds of links with similar or identical anchor text in their desire to improve rankings.
The reality is that you do need to ensure that you have a good balance of anchor text coming into the various sections of your website, and they should NOT all say, “blue widgets” anymore. Any exception to this rule would really only be on your own site.
Not only do you want to ensure that you have a good mix of inbound links, but you should include phrases like “check this out” and “look at this” so that they appear to be much more natural.
To be 100% clear, (it’s my belief that) not all of them should come from the body text of relevant articles, and some should come from weird places with crappy phrases.
Some of your links should be no followed too, because otherwise it looks artificial as well. Think about it – If everybody links to you with the exact same anchor text, it becomes painfully obvious that you are building links with the intention of improving your rankings.
So let’s say you have a giant website, with dozens of potential link targets, and dozens or even hundreds of potential phrases. How can you efficiently cover all the bases?
When writing content yourself, or assigning content to employees, or even outsourcing large batches of content to other authors, it’s customary to define the anchor text and landing pages you wish to have them link to in their writing.
Th old way was to tediously hand build link after link, with different anchor text, different landing pages, some followed, some no followed, and give them to authors to start sprinkling in the content.
We recently needed to create over 800 pieces of content, with a few links in each one, and we needed to link back to 30+ different URL’s with tons of different anchor text, and “doing it manually” was just not a viable option.
Rather than create all of the links by hand, we were able to use our PPC Keyword list multiplier and split half of the code for the links in one column, then put half of the code in the second column, creating an output including all of the varied URLs and anchor text.
Of course, because my keyword multiplier placed spaces between the phrases, we then had to do a batch find and replace to fix all of the links, but in the end, we were able to create a massive list of code, with every possible variable of anchor text and landing page that we wanted.
It occurred to me that rather than try to manipulate that tool, and be forced to use find and replace, it shouldn’t be all that much more difficult to create a separate tool and that’s what we’ve done.
Simply place your list of URLs on the left side, place your anchor text variables on the right, then choose whether you want them to be nofollowed or to open in a new window, and press the button. Try it out here
If you’ve ever imported large quantities of URLs into a spreadsheet, or even copy/pasted just a few rows, one of the things that you’ve probably disliked is the fact that those URLs are not “live”.
In fact, in order to actually visit those URLs as needed, you have to copy/paste each one of them into the browser address bar, which takes extra time.
2011 Update – Watch this!
You may have engaged in the ridiculous process of double clicking into each cell and then pressing the enter key. This moves your cursor down the spread sheet line after line, making each URL miraculously “live”. I’ve even had my 11 year old son do this for hundreds of rows before.
You would THINK that Microsoft would be “smart” enough to make these URLs immediately live upon entry, but sadly; that’s not the case. Even with http:// before the URL, Excel simply cannot understand that it should be a link.
A couple of weeks ago, I gave a presentation at the Oregon Computer Consultants Association meeting, where I was reviewing some of the things I hate about office 2007, and the Excel Queen Karen Westermann seemed to think this would be an easy problem to solve.
Well apparently, it wasn’t quite as easy as she thought it would be. Since she’s the Queen though, she did come up with a solution, so here’s a spreadsheet for this miserable task that I can share with you all.
The Make my links live tool is available now, complete with directions here. My son doesn’t like it though, since he’s now out of a job…
Pay per click campaigns can be somewhat tedious to set up, primarily because all the data that you get from the keyword research tools need to be reworked into a more useful list. My new keyword multiplier tool should make it a lot easier!
By that, I mean you need to consider every variation that might be possible, whether that be by city name or even a synonym for a certain service or occupation, and it always seems that many get overlooked.
For example, let’s say you ‘re doing a PPC campaign for plumber in the San Fernando valley, down in Southern California.
You’ve used all your different keyword research tools, and now you have dozens or even hundreds of primary key phrases, like Plumbing, Plumber, clogged drain, sink repair, unplug my toilet in, etc.
You know that there are an almost endless number of cities and towns that people are searching besides Los Angeles, like Woodland Hills, Tarzana, Encino, Calabasas, etc.
Manually putting that list together was a pain in the neck, and a couple of years ago while performing this tedious task, it crossed my mind that this job could likely be accomplished in an Excel spreadsheet.
Now I know nothing about writing macros, so the first person that crossed my mind, was Karen Westermann, the Excel Queen, and in a few short days, I had my tool. (Thanks, Karen!)
Fast forward to 2008, in a recent discussion with my best programmer about various projects, I asked her if she could turn the spreadsheet into a web application that would run inside a WordPress page.
Much to my delight, she said “sure, in a snap” so the keyword multiplier tool was born. I suppose it’s a little bit like keyword tumbler, but I think it’s far less complicated.
All you have to do is take one group, and put them on the left side, and another group on the right side, and press the button to combine your list. That’s it.
You can also use the tool more than once, which is something you might do for an attorney with more than one type of practice, or a contractor, with many different specialties and departments..
For example, on the left side you might phrases like pizza, chicken and tacos. In the second column, use delivery, restaurants, and reviews.
in column three, put cities, and you can even put in a fourth column, of state spellings, for example.
Here’s a quick 90 second video -
Try my keyword multiplier for yourself, and please tell me what you think!
There is nothing worse than computer problems, and there’s nothing better than free software to prevent them in the first place.
One of my favorite utilities of all time, Winpatrol, has just updated to their 2008 version, and the company owner has provided me with an affiliate version that I can give away at no charge.
I used to have a computer repair store in Portland, and our shop fixed anywhere from 30 to 60 computers a week that people brought in from various problems. Additionally, we did a lot of on-site service too, dealing with small businesses, setting up networks, file sharing etc.
While some of the computer work that got done was upgrading or replacing components, the vast majority of our work had to do with “problems”, meaning Windows just wasn’t behaving the way it was supposed to.
Nine out of ten times the problem was not with Windows, but with third-party software that had been unknowingly starting up on the user’s system, sucking up all their available memory.
Whether that software was spyware, or a legitimate piece of software that simply attached itself to the Windows startup process, making the computer run more efficiently always involved removing these startup programs from memory.
As far back as 1998 I was writing articles not only about the search engines, but about how to improve performance on your computer, and even how to be your own IT department. A few years ago a local consultant named Steve Shank told me about a program called Winpatrol, and as soon as I tried it I was hooked.
Everything about Winpatrol is designed to give the user complete control over what runs and what doesn’t run on your system, so you can maximize your performance.
There’s an easy user interface that lets you see what’s starting up each time Windows does, and you can remove or disable them as you see fit. In some cases, the change can be so dramatic, that it will feel like you’ve got a new computer at your desk.
After my recent hard drive loss I had to reinstall windows, and after completion, here’s everything that Winpatrol helped me disable with a simple click of the mouse. Do you think my performance improved?
Choosing to “disable” something doesn’t remove any functionality from your system, it just prevents it from starting up when your system boots, so things can be started manually, if needed. If you’re not sure what something is, there’s an info screen that tells more about each individual item, like the company name and when it was added to your system.
The free version gives the same full functionality as the paid version, but the paid version has a few benefits, including access to a massive knowledgebase about nearly every program under the sun, and “real time” infiltration detection. True geeks like me will want that stuff, but for most people, the free version is everything they could want. (Personally, I still think he gives away far too much for free, but it’s gained him quite a huge fan base)
It’s very easy to figure out, with an intuitive user interface, and a quick and easy setup. However, if you are a complete beginner, here’s a link to a short video demonstrating how I downloaded, installed, and configured it on a system recently. The video is in Flash, and will open in another window.
When I was interviewed by a local television station a few years ago on the dangers of spyware and how users could control it, I recommend the Winpatrol program on the air, and it turned out that Bill Pytlovani (the company owner) had a daughter that lived here in Portland. After seeing the on the news, she phoned him, and he got in touch with me.
Ever since then we’ve stayed in touch on and off, and I remain a big fan to this day. Here’s a link to Bill’s blog, and here’s a direct download link to the free 2008 version of his software, which I am 100% certain will improve your computers performance. Try it, and please comment here and tell me what you think!
There’s been a nice addition to one of my favorite pieces of link building helper software with this morning’s update. It just keeps getting better and better to help your employees make their link building time actually count, and actually build a couple of links, instead of doing research.
- Added: “Toggle Highlighting “NoFollow” Links” option.
- Added: “Most Recent Post Date” column that shows the date of the most recent post on the blog. Some of the blogs most recent posts are over 2 years old. You can set a filter and remove blogs that haven’t had an entry since a selected date.
It’s all about the tools, and that’s why I endorse, support, and recommend Fast Blog Finder as an affiliate…
You know the drill by now… Searching the web for subject relevant blogs, then posting an intelligent comment that you hope will get you a counted backlink to your own domain or webpage of your choice.
It’s a tedious process, but one that’s been proven effective for building backlinks and traffic. However, it takes an awful lot of time to not only find those blogs in the first place, but then evaluate the domain and the post to see if it’s even worth the effort to comment. That’s where this software comes in. ( Direct link to download the software demo)
The inclusion of the rel= “nofollow” tag on blog comments to prevent spam has made this practice less popular, but there are a large number of sites blogs out there that have removed the no follow attribute from their comments, and have started what i guess is called the “DoFollow” community.
Once you find a blog in your subject matter that allows followed comments, you can only do yourself so much good (link-wise) by participating, because it’s better to get multiple links from multiple domains. Besides, if you spend all your time commenting on just a couple of blogs you’ll become more of a stalker than a commenter!
Recently I received an e-mail about a new piece of software designed to help identify and locate blogs on which to comment almost effortlessly, and at first I was skeptical, expecting the majority of results to come back to me with nothing but junk.
However, after using it almost daily for nearly 3 weeks, I’m not only finding some real gems out there, but I’M ALSO seeing it add to my inbound link count and improve the related search rankings.
The software is called Fast Blog Finder, and it’s really simple to use. You just enter a keyword or phrase in quotes, and the software searches the web for all of the blogs out there that allow comments, providing you with a link t othe blog, the page rank of the domain, the page rank of the actual post, the number of outbound links on the page, and the type of links it allows, either green (DO follow) or pink (no follow).
Instant column sorting lets me do a quick search for a phrase, sort by type of link, and then instantly read and comment right inside the software, or in a web browser if I prefer.
Once a comment is submitted, the software automatically adds a note for future reference, so you can see that you’ve commented there before.
A typical search for a phrase may come up with several hundred blogs, a couple dozen posts that allow Dofollow commenting, and just a handful that have actual page rank on the post page. The amount of time it saves is almost immeasurable.
Obviously, the idiots out there will abuse this software and attempt to make pointless comments with nothing but keyword rich name links, forcing the blog owners to delete their comments as spam. DO NOT DO THAT!
But if you use your head, and leave a thoughtful and relevant comment, linking back to your site, your page, or your clients site, then there is no reason the blog owner will not approve the comment, and the backlink will be a good one.
When I first saw this software I was pretty impressed, and now that I’ve seen some actual ranking bumps and inbound links increase for brand-new domains, I’m even more impressed.
There’s a completely free version of the software you can download here, and I would encourage you to give it a try, even though it only returns 50 results in the free version. You will still likely come up with some DoFollowed links the you can create instantly and almost effortlessly.
Another great feature is the fact that once the report has been run, you can export the entire list into an Excel (.csv) spreadsheet, and pass it along to an employee to work on over a period of time.
That’s great, because you cannot run this software on multiple computers without an individual license for EACH user. That’s worth noting. If you have a stable of employees, and you want THEM to do the research, then you’re going to have to buy a version for each one of them. However, at only $49 a pop, I can tell you that the time saved will be well worth the investment.
I’m spending less than 10 minutes each morning taking the time to post just one link for one of my own domains, but I’ve sent spread sheets and assigned the task to a couple of Search Commander associates, and I give this software a wholehearted thumbs up.
It’s totally white hat, totally useful, and I cannot imagine doing the job without this software any more. If you want to see how much time you can save, here are a couple of links… (and yes, of COURSE they’re affiliate links!)
Please comment here with your thoughts…
