Thu 3 Jan 2008
How Did They Start Those Authority SEM/SEO Blogs?
Blurb by Shaun Anderson (Hobo)SEO TIPS Ever wondered how you start a blog? Ever wondered how popular seo blogs started? I decided to take another look at how some of the blogs I read on a weekly basis kicked things off.
- Rand Fiskin
- Andy Beard
- Aaron Wall
- Jim Boykin
- Dave N
- Michael Gray
- Sebastian
- Matt Cutts
- ShoeMoney
- Todd Malicoat
- Danny Sullivan
- Joost De Valk
- Tamar Weinberg
- Wiep Knol
- John Andrews
- Tadeusz Szewczyk
- Maki
- XMCP
- Donna Fontenot
- Tim Nash
- Lyndon Antcliff
- Michael Martinez
- Marty Weintraub
- Hamlet Batista
- Debra Mastaler
- Hobo
As you can see, these blogs went on to become quality seo resources I visit regularly (or am starting to take an interest in). The most important thing to note is that they…..started. It’s 2008, but it’s still not too late to start your blog, no matter the industry.
Blogs help build brand awareness. They generate natural incoming back-links, a must for success in Google. Blogs allow you the means to update your site easily and let other sites know about your site. A blog allows you to participate in many communities. There’s so much a blog can do for any business.
What are you waiting for?
All the best for 2008 from Hobo Web.
Granular Page Test – Search Engine Optimisation Scotland.
Did you know when you link to a Hobo SEO post we have search engine friendly links back to your site if approved? Our comments are also search engine friendly you know (once you've commented on a few posts)! Do you need any more encouragement to get involved in the conversation ;)
I’m kind of embarrassed by that initial post.
Isn’t it interesting to see how one can grow from blogging though? In the end, it doesn’t matter where you get started or what prompts you — the more you do it, the more you mature and learn.
Hi Tamar! Thanks for the comment. Everybody is embarrassed by their initial post! You’re not doing to badly these days eh? Happy New Year!
Sphunn here: http://sphinn.com/story/21100
I love this post. Sort of like looking at people’s high school yearbook photos
Cheers! Thanks for my first Sphinn in 2008, Marty!
Great idea for a post! It really does take me back. Thanks Shaun!
Thanks Jeff – It seems to have done the trick
Ah, but I fooled you
That was actually a deliberately backdated post because when I was on Blogger there were no pages, and I wanted to keep it out of the flow.
My real first post was this one
*Edited this one now – Shaun*
Enjoy your break
Very original post, I really love the idea.
Oh, and a Happy New Year to you as well
Great idea, thanks for the mention.
Happy 2008!
Sebastian
Interesting post and fun at the same time! I will be back for more
Great post Shaun – always thinking outside the box and we’re just a few days in to the new year as well.
Very original post Shaun – well done. And Tamar – you’ve got nothing to be embarrassed about in that post!
I just feel like such a newbie.
What Did Search Bloggers Write About Before they Became Celebrities?…
Over at Hobo SEO UK, Shaun Anderson wrote a really interesting “take me back to the early days” post about how established SEO and SEMs got started. He looks at many bloggers’ very first posts and many have come a……
Hey, well done – great idea for a post and a link baiting hit! Seen this at Sphinn and SERoundtable today!
best original idea for 2008, Shaun.
Tamar IMed me about it; that’s all I need to know.
Thanks Andrew for the kudos and comment. I hope you stick around!
@ Andrew Shotland – Glad you liked it!
@ Kalena Thanks and thanks for the recent link to my Title Tag Experiment, too. I’ve admired your site for quite some time.
@ Paul – Thanks Paul! All the best in the New Year – I hear you’ve got big plans!
@ Matt Ridout – Thanks!
@ Wiep – Praise indeed!
@ Andy! You are a right pain!
Actually I noticed there was something afoot but couldn’t work out which one was first in the time I had, and I couldn’t make a list of blogs I read without including yours – so something had to go in. There was a few others which were a bit less than straight forward too.
Thanks for the comments and Sphinns and Stumbles guys.
@ Kevin – LOL! Thanks indeed. I won’t let it go to my head!
Tamar could have had another hot story there! She was first to comment and faster than the black hat sites that always trackback to my posts (anybody know how to stop those?).
She was obviously feeling generous and thanks again Marty for the Sphinn!
Oh man, that’s embarrassing…
Ha Ha! You had to start somewhere!
Let this be a warning to all
even though majority of people will never read that first test post their is always one nosey parker knocking around!
Cheers Shaun
Thanks Tim – I’m not Nosey just a wind-up merchant
What do SEO people put in their Robots.txt files?
Hi Shaun,
Nice collection of SEO/SEM blog you follow.but wondered to see , you ignore to read seomoz blog.what i follow usually.
no problem! it’s your choice..
Netidme – Far from ignoring SEOMoz, who do you think Rand Fishkin is?
Hi Shaun,
Apart from Rand Fishkin ,
Rebecca Kelley, Search Marketing Consultant from Seomoz team contributing a lot now a days
It’s a good team they’ve got over there
I’ve found that one of the “shortcuts” to putting your blog on the map is to do guest posts on popular blogs.
Is there a difference between PR and “authority blogs?”
I have a blog that I let sit idle for 18 months and it has maintained the same PR as other “authority” blogs who are posting every single day.
Does any of this make sense?
Patrick
Thanks for the collection of blogs there. I was familiar with most, but you gave me a couple of nice gems that I’m not adding to my RSS list. My bloglines feeds are starting to get high in number.
I still haven’t started my own SEO blog simply because I keep telling myself I don’t have the time for it. That’s probably a huge mistake, so I’ve got to find the way to get it going. Seeing some of the blogs you listed above grow year to year has been pretty inspiring, so I guess I just need to push through a few late nights and get my own off the ground.
Lena & Bob – nice views
love the sites guys and your right both of you need blogs.
Shaun – Have you thought about a site rename “project stickypot” honeypot is otherwise taken
EDITED by Shaun – Thanks Tim!
great list of blogs. I just subscribed to five or six of them….go viral marketing!
Hi Shaun and all you readers!
Not only has Shaun blogged about blogging and therefore got all you people who do or don’t blog to either start blogging or realise the importance of blogging to become bloggers – he has shown the importance of blogging….by a list of other people’s blogs!
How many backlinks/tracebacks or even how much kudos did you get from this Shaun….???
You’re a genius big man!
Cheers,
Jamessy
I am glad that I have decided to start my blog last year. I am angry at myself because I have a lot of domains but I didn´t start more blogs in those.
Shame on me.
Proof that even the big bloggers start somewhere.
I am just starting a blog now and I am realizing that it takes time and effort. Just started getting my first comments. I can totally see the advantages to Wordpress, without a doubt.