I've been doing a whole lot of work on SEO (Search Engine Optimisation - the business of ensuring your website is optimised for search engines) at work in the last 12 months. Like all web marketers, I knew a bit about SEO and probably felt I knew a lot. Since last summer I've made it my business to learn as much as I can about white-hat SEO tactics (the 'best practices'), as well as black-hat tactics (the naughty stuff, but purely so I knew what NOT to do).

One thing that has slowly dawned on me, to my own detriment it must be said, is that 'link love' - or the power that links form other websites have to yours, is a key element in website optimisation. As much as your site is optimised, keyword rich, accessible, etc etc - you need links for the search engines to rank you highly - especially when it comes to competitive terms.

So content rich, keyword heavy, respected sites like AP News should be loving the fact that people link to them. Or so you'd imagine. And you'd imagine wrong. Full credit to the Washington post on their strategy to counter the litigation crazy AP News.

Some people really don't get web marketing. They'll learn in time...

Just five days after snowboarding in Homewood, Lake Tahoe, I flew home to Dublin on a flight that flew right over the resort. By chance I had my camera at the ready and snapped this quick shot. If you view this shot on flickr and rollover the image, you'll see where the resort is. Not a bad shot either, but the fact I was snowboarding here a few days earlier makes this a pretty special photo for me. While on this trip, I also realised how much I love snowboarding. It's been 7 years since I last had the chance, but I'm going to make it my mission to get on the slopes at least once a year from now on.

*Edit* A recently Discovery Channel news article sent to me by Ian Stanley, points to some long term damage being done to Lake Tahoe by global warming. See here - Lake Tahoe Threatened by Warming?

Anyone for some free legal electronic music that also happens to be really cool ? Yes ? You might want to read my blog post about General Fuzz over on the DMC.

Labels: download, free music, general fuzz, music recommendation

Sometimes I hate Winter. With a vengeance. Sometimes I love it. With a passion. Yesterday was a day I loved it. I took a stroll with my family along the cliff-walk from Donabate in Co Dublin, towards Portrane. The waves were thumping against the rocks, the sun was low and barely visible, so the light was weak. It was pretty miserable, but it was fantastic. I put my life, and dry shoes, in serious danger when trying to get some decent shots of the seascape in front of me. In fact, I got totally drenched taking this one in particular, but I feel it was worth it - esp after seeing how it turned out after a bit of processing in Photoshop. If you want to comment on this, please visit my flickr page.

In Dublin, Ireland we take Christmas lights very very seriously. Maybe it's because it's so dark and gloomy here at this time of year. Maybe it's just cos we're barking mad. Either way, here is a classic example of Christmas lights gone nuts. Thankfully, it's all for charity so you gotta hand it to the guy who makes his house look like Las Vegas - it's all for a worthy cause.