Goo.gl url shortener is now open to everyone!

I love this: the goo.gl url shortener is now open to everyone! I know the folks that worked on this, so let me answer a few quick questions.

Q: Why are you doing this?
A: Google needed a url shortener for its own products where we knew the shortener wouldn’t go away. We also wanted a shortener that we knew would do things the right way (e.g. 301/permanent redirects), and that would be fast, stable, and secure.

Q: Why open it up to the public?
A: Initially we launched it only for Google to use on things like the Google Toolbar and FeedBurner. It only took about week before someone dug into the toolbar to see how the shortening code worked. One popular Chrome extension showed up within a few days and now has almost 70,000 installs. Clearly, a lot of people wanted to use goo.gl themselves.

Q: Fair enough. Any cool new features?
A: The main feature is that you can use goo.gl just by going to the web page. But if you go to http://goo.gl and login with your Google account, you’ll get analytics and history features for the urls you’ve shortened. Here’s what the analytics page looks like for a recent link I tweeted, for example:

Q: Is goo.gl an “X killer”?
A: No, goo.gl isn’t an effort to kill anything. I think the whole “product X will kill product Y” meme is getting a little threadbare. We needed a url shortener for Google itself. And then lots of people asked for this, so we’re opening our own url shortener to the world. Different url shorteners have different philosophies; I view the goo.gl philosophy as running a tight, fast service without piling on a ton of features.

My favorite Chrome extension to shorten urls is right here, but see the official blog post for other good extensions that use goo.gl. Danny Sullivan is also writing a screenshot-by-screenshot article over on Search Engine Land.

I hope you like the service. I’m biased, because I know the people that work on it, but why not give it a try yourself?

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Scribe 3.0: SEO Made Simple

Some people think search engine optimization is a dark and mysterious art. But for online writers and content producers, it’s really as simple as 1, 2, 3:

• First, you need the right keywords, so you understand the language your readers, customers, or clients are using when they search.
• Second, you need compelling content that people love and search engines know is relevant to those searchers.
• Third, you need incoming links so search engines treat your site as a trusted and relevant source.

I’m proud to announce that version 3.0 of Scribe now goes beyond on-page content optimization. We’ve added upfront keyword research (in addition to our keyword suggestion tool), plus three great link-building features that help you cover all your search optimization bases.

Scribe 3.0 makes these three SEO fundamentals easier and more efficient than ever:

• First, the Scribe keyword research tool tunes you into the right language before you write. Once your content is created, the Scribe keyword suggestion service shows you keyword phrases you might have missed.
• Second, Scribe analyzes your natural, reader-focused content, and tells you how to gently tweak it to spoon feed search engines based on 15 SEO best practices.
• Third, Scribe’s link building tools help you build back links from other sites, crosslink the content within your own site, and identify influential social media users who want to share your stuff.

With Scribe on your side, you’ll:

• Discover the correct profitable keywords
• Stay automatically up to speed on SEO best practices
• Optimize your content better and faster
• Avoid content that reads like it was written by a robot
• Build quality links with less hassle and confusion

But most of all, you’ll achieve higher search rankings and increase the targeted traffic to your site!

As part of your subscription you get Scribe Web, plus integrated versions of Scribe for WordPress, Joomla, and Drupal. We’ll even throw in free educational seminars to help you get more out of Scribe.

Check it out.

Scribe Web:

Scribe Web allows content creators of any type to optimize any web content for search engines, regardless of platform or content management system. It’s especially popular among professional writers who create search optimized content for clients, and that’s why Scribe Web allows you to generate detailed content optimization reports so your clients can easily understand the work you’ve done.

Scribe for WordPress:

Scribe for WordPress allows online publishers and bloggers to optimize their content for search engines directly from inside the WordPress interface, by tapping into the Scribe software service on our servers. This means you’re constantly getting new-and-improved, state-of-the-art keyword research, content optimization, and link building tools.

Scribe requires the ability to enter a custom title tag and a meta description via your WordPress interface. Most popular themes and plug-ins, both free and paid, enable these two functions so you can use Scribe directly from WordPress.

Themes that work with Scribe for WordPress:

• Genesis
• Thesis
• Headway
• Hybrid
• Frugal
• WooThemes

SEO Plug-Ins that work with Scribe for WordPress:

• All In One SEO Pack (free and pro version)
• FV All In One
• HeadSpace2
• wpSEO
• Platinum SEO Pack
• SEO Ultimate

Scribe for Joomla and Drupal:

Scribe also helps you win the search engine game with the Joomla and Drupal content management systems. The keyword research and link-building features have been built in by our respective Joomla and Drupal ninjas, and are in beta testing as we speak. We expect the new and improved Joomla and Drupal plug-ins for Scribe to be live and kicking by next week.

New design, new videos, new offer:

Because these new Scribe features are kind of a big deal, we’ve done a complete makeover in their honor. We’ve got a completely new site design, new copy, a new video tour, and new demo videos.

There’s also a special offer that makes Scribe an even better deal (if you look hard enough). Hint: Look at the “test drive” page.

Check out Scribe 3.0 for yourself.

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How To Increase Alexa Rank

There are many different metrics that you can use to determine the relative popularity of a website. One of these metrics is your Alexa rank and this number can play a critical role for determining the monetization potential of your site, the advertising rate you can garner through established ad networks, and the kind of exposure that you can gain within your niche.

The struggle, then, is figuring how to improve your Alexa ranking in the most efficient and most effective way. Working to do exactly that for you is the suitably named service from YourAlexaRanking.com. They promise to enhance your Alexa ranking and it comes with a 100% money-back guarantee.

What Do They Do?

If the people behind the service told you exactly about the tactics they used, wouldn’t they be putting themselves out of business? Not surprisingly, they’re not exactly forthcoming with the techniques used to improve your Alexa rank, which is why you would want to hire them in the first place.

While the service is certainly geared to getting your Alexa ranking number into the five digits (or better), it is usually true that a better rating in Alexa will also lend itself to better rankings with other metrics too. This isn’t always the case, but it doesn’t hurt either.

I’m not completely sold on some of the sales copy on the website, since there are some vague sections and other areas with grammatical errors, but that shouldn’t necessarily detract from the company’s ability to work on getting you a better Alexa rating.

What Do I Need to Do?

That’s part of the interesting thing about this service. After you give them your money, you really don’t have to do anything other than provide them with the website URL. There is nothing you need to install, no content to insert, and no code to be placed anywhere.

They outright say that there is “no requirement on client’s websites” to get the job done. Despite this hands-off configuration, they can still guarantee that they will achieve your goal rank, even if it is a brand new site with zero traffic to begin with.

Where it is a little less clear is how long it will take to achieve this ranking. They say that the money back guarantee kicks in when they cannot improve your Alexa ranking to your prescribed level “at the end of the package.” What exactly does that mean? The pricing plans make no mention of a timeframe to achieve the goal.

How Much Does It Cost?

Rather than charging you based on the size of your site or its current ranking, Your Alexa Ranking charges based on the target Alexa ranking that you want to achieve.

The lowest package is to improve Alexa rankings to the 500,000 range (+/- 50,000) for $29.99 a month. This goes as high as a target page rank of 1,000 (+/- 500) for the special “promotion price” of $4,499.99 a month. They process your order manually and start within 24 hours.

They even have bonus discounts if you prepay for several months at a time, which once again raises the question of how long it takes to improve your Alexa ranking. If they clarify this concern, I can see how such a service can be very valuable for e-commerce sites, monetized blogs, and all sorts of other sites.

Link: Your Alexa Ranking

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