I realize this isn’t the most timely post. I mean I’m before the draft but after college decision day when it comes to basketball but I have some thoughts, and some irritations.

I am a Kentucky fan. I am not a racist, a redneck, or uneducated. I am proud of my team and proud that the majority of our fans are awesome people. I am not blind to other teams’ talent – UNC, Kansas, UCLA, Louisville and so on – and I respect the talent. I have mixed feelings about one-and-done; I worry about what happens in terms of education, about these boys‘ future without a college education if everything doesn’t pan out. I do not think my coach is to blame. I think he works within a flawed system; one that people need to acknowledge is flawed, one in which it’s problematic to complain about one-and-done and be anti college players getting paid. I think Calipari is a fantastic coach. If you want to point out the murky spots in his past, fine, but also note those players acted alone. If you want to argue that he cheats, fine, I don’t really know about that but I suspect they all do, so at least acknowledge if he’s doing it so is everyone from Izzo to Coach K. And lastly, don’t let your blind hatred of Kentucky lead to a bunch of bullshit like calling us out as responsible for the downfall of basketball. If you don’t think Williams and Pitino and Self would happily take our recruits if they could then you’re head is so far up your own ass that we’re best to go our separate ways.

I digress. Over the last couple of weeks I watched Kentucky’s fan base obsess over who we were going to get as recruits. Ok. Go team. Yay fans. And then as the announcements started to be made on Tuesday, I watched those same fuckers shirk Shabazz on twitter with a #unfollowshabazz campaign. Fuck you. Pretty much, fuck all of you. I don’t care who you root for, I don’t care how you feel about one-and-done, I simply don’t care. I don’t care because everyone forgets that these are boys. When these high school seniors and college players are making these epically huge decisions about where to play in college and when to take their chances at the NBA it needs to be remembered that these aren’t 40 year old men with pensions making the choice take a lateral position or hang out and wait for another position. These are young men, making decisions that will affect the rest of their lives. They have so much pressure on their backs, everyone around them (family included) wants a piece of them, and yet, as a country we feel it’s time to pile on. Bullshit. Wish them the best. I hope Shabazz fucking rocks it at UCLA, I hope Kentucky sends 6 players in the first round of the draft and one of them gets Rookie of the year. I hope every player ntionwide gets the outcome they wanted and I hope they find the support they need. At their age, I was irresponsible, couldn’t make any type of serious decision, and made all kinds of missteps so I choose to not judge them and wish them all the best.

Also – excellent article on a key factor people choose to ignore: NY Times – College Basketball http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/09/sports/ncaabasketball/begrudging-the-kentucky-wildcats-success-and-opportunities.html?_r=3&pagewanted=all

A well-optimized website is critical for reaching customers online and staying competitive.  So you thought you bought a website that was “Search Engine Optimized,” right? The problem with the phrase “Search Engine Optimization”, however, is that it’s true meaning has been diluted by those looking to take advantage of buyer ignorance. What you need to understand is that there is a difference between Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and a site that was built to be “search friendly.” Let’s explain why.

The biggest difference is that search engine optimization is an actual process executed over time.  It not only deals with components on and about your site, but also what’s happening with how the search engine algorithms change and how your activities impact your changing rankings over time. Building a search-friendly website just addresses search visibility factors in one moment in time — when your website is built.  Though you do want this kind of attention while your site’s being built, you should lower your expectations about the impact of this work on your search engine rankings over time.

To help put this in perspective, here are just a few Google changes in recent times that may directly have affected your website if you are not doing ongoing SEO:

Impact of Social Sharing on Search

One of the most significant changes that search engines have made recently is the consideration of your social impact on the web. For instance, have you ever noticed your search results seem tailored to you when you’re logged into a Google product? This is the result of a recent Google initiative called  “Search Plus Your World” where Google integrates social results (e.g. your friends’ recommendations) from your account into your search results.

These days, it is important to spread your message well beyond your website by including fresh content, comments and links that are relevant to your business. Information that you share on social networks will be crawled and indexed by search engines, thus improving your chances of being found on the web.

If you don’t have any procedures in place to continue optimizing your site and you’re not seeing an increase in site traffic over time, you haven’t truly optimized your site. Here are a few things you can do:

If you can’t do the above, consider hiring a professional.  A successful SEO company will ensure your website keeps up with the ever-changing search engine changes, will develop high-quality, well-ranked web pages, content and links and will help you measure the impact of your SEO efforts on your overall business objectives. If you’re truly serious about competing in an online environment, don’t just settle for the one-and-done approach.

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Pragmatic, professional advice with no hidden agenda. 

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