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Google’s December Algorithm Change Hints at a Focus on Mobile Websites

January 12, 2012

Google released a breakdown of thirty changes to their search algorithm on January 5th. If you didn’t make it to the bottom of the list, you missed something special: Faster mobile browsing. [launch codename “old possum”, project codename “Skip Redirect”] Many websites redirect smartphone users to another page that is optimized for smartphone browsers. This change [...]

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Pull your latest tweet with PHP

July 5, 2011

Found some better code to pull your latest tweet:

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Backup Your Rackspace Cloud Site Automatically

June 30, 2011

I love RackSpace but was frustrated by how hard it was to set up automated backups for WordPress. If you find yourself in the same boat, I’d really suggest checking out Automated Cloud Site backups. And if you are frustrated by your current webhost, I’d really suggest you try RackSpace. They are awesome, knowledgable, and [...]

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Awesome New Web Applications I’m Lovin

May 16, 2011

There are 2 excellent new web applications I came across recently that solve real problems. They are: PintPay.com: Pintpay is a payment processor that is beautiful, easy to use, and is very inexpensive. I’ve been looking for something like this for a new service I’ll be launching soon. Charging a monthly recurring fee was starting [...]

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New WP Plugin lets you Search for Available Domain Names

March 31, 2011

One of my favorite parts of starting a new project is choosing a domain name. You want it to be memorable, maybe have a few keywords, and be something you are able to stick with for a few years. A new plugin for WordPress lets you (and your readers) search for available domain names right [...]

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At SXSW

March 14, 2011

All the hype that SXSW Interactive gets is well deserved. Or at least that’s my opinion after spending the last 4 days here. It’s been a very inspiring few days. I’m really excited to get home and put some of the things I’ve learned to use. Steve Blank is responcible for my favorite panel this [...]

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How to recover from burnout…

March 5, 2011

A suggestion for recovering from burnout from the lat Nobel Prize winner Richard Feynman: Then I had another thought: Physics disgusts me a little bit now, but I used to enjoy doing physics. Why did I enjoy it? I used to play with it. I used to do whatever I felt like doing – it [...]

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How to Hide Your Password Protected WordPress Posts from Google

October 29, 2010

Do you have password protected pages or posts in WordPress that you’d rather not have Google indexing? Well worry no longer! If you add this code to your header.php file, it will tell Google not to index your password-protected content: Thanks and enjoy!

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Did you give it a “College Try”?

October 18, 2010

One of the most useful things I learned in High School came from an English Teacher who loved to ask, “Did you give it a college try?”. Anytime I approached her with a problem that started with… “I tried X but…” I was almost guaranteed to get her motto: “Did you give it a college [...]

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Jefferson’s Letter To Peter Carr

September 19, 2010

Give up money, give up fame, give up science, give the earth itself and all it contains, rather than do an immoral act. And never suppose, that in any possible situation, or under any circumstances, it is best for you to do a dishonorable thing, however slightly so it may appear to you. Whenever you [...]

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5 Surprising Lessons Learned by User Testing

August 30, 2010

‘It’s not what you say, it’s what people hear.’ -Frank Luntz Last week they were running a deal at AppSumo that made the cost of user testing low enough that it would be silly not to try it. So I decided to give it a go and I learned a lot about how people use [...]

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Two Cool New Plugins

July 26, 2010

Late last week I was approached by Seth Shoultes about a new plugin he made for E-Junkie. The plugin allows a wordpress user to quickly and easily add an E-Junkie shopping cart to their website. I thought the plugin was really cool and helpful and figured you guys might want to know about it. Then [...]

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Best Social Media Icons, Ever

June 28, 2010

Peter Hyman (whose new blog we are about to launch) has officially discovered the best Social Media Icon set ever. And it’s free too. A sample image is here, but there are plenty more icons in the whole pack.

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What You Can Do Right Now to Make Your Website Kick Butt

June 25, 2010

I’ve been making and improving websites for people for almost five years now. And I’m always looking patterns that make webmasters successful over time. Finally, I think I’ve found one such pattern. The Web is a Marketplace Before we dive into the pattern that makes a website successful, let’s play a little game: Let’s think [...]

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Do you check email too often?

June 14, 2010

It seems like the obvious answer is no, right? Is it possible to be too on top of it? Can you be too informed? A couple of articles I’ve read lately have lead me to believe that yes, it is possible to be too informed. Let’s take a look at Dan Ariely’s (you might recognize [...]

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SWAY Search Wrap-Up for May 2010

May 24, 2010

This last week was tough. On top of my brother’s accident that placed him in the hospital for a couple of days, Alaina and I worked long and hard to put together the first SWAY Search workshop. Presenting the ideas that have helped me achieve some level of success in SEO proved to be more [...]

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Free Download: The SEO Popcorn Method

May 13, 2010

Click here to download now. What is The Popcorn Method? The popcorn method grew out of a problem I had recently. I needed to put a ton of content up quickly on a new WordPress-powered website and it all had to rank well. This is quite a serious task to be given, and the fact [...]

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iPad Usability: Reviews aren’t looking great

May 10, 2010

Jakob Nielsen, the God of usability, has his first article on the usability of the iPad. The summary doesn’t look too good: iPad apps are inconsistent and have low feature discoverability, with frequent user errors due to accidental gestures. An overly strong print metaphor and weird interaction styles cause further usability problems. read the whole article here.

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In Defense of SEO

April 24, 2010

I’ve been listening to a lot of oxford-style debate thanks to NPR’s new and awesome show, Intelligence Squared. After hours of listening to thoughtful and well-spoken people debate the merits (and problems associated with) teachers’ unions, paying for sex, atheism, etc., it’s hard not to think about subject close to my heart with the same [...]

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VaultPress: WordPress’ new security suite is recruiting beta testers

March 30, 2010

Well what a great idea the folks at WordPress(/automattic) have come up with. It’s called VaultPress. Let’s take a step back for a sec. Crap happens. And when your blog gets hacked you don’t want to be wishing that you’d been making backups. Not everyone that uses WordPress is a WordPress consultant and shouldn’t be [...]

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