Happy Birthday, David!

My son turned ten years old the other day.It's been an awesome ten years, and David Hugh Scott is just a joy and always has been since the day he was born. His website certainly needs some work - but a couple of years ago, (or perhaps it was a year and a half), he approached me and said that he wanted to learn HTML and wanted to have his own website.

We made a list together of some of his hobbies and interests, and started to work on it, but alas we have not done much more. His interests, hobbies and just being a great fellow all round have meant little time for learning more HTML. Perhaps when the summer is over and the weather is less conducive to outdoor activities, we'll get back to the website and update it and get rid of the dead links.

The photo here was taken on David's birthday when he and I just went out together (after all the kid's had left his birthday party) to kick a soccer ball around at a local park (yes I know, for all my relatives in N. Ireland, it's a football, but that would confuse my North American visitors).

We spent a couple of hours after cycling to the park together, just having fun together. At this point in his young life, he's accomplished quite a bit and I'm very proud of him. He took an interest in Karate about 2 1/2 years ago, and since then has gone up through the belt ranks and is now on his Blue (or is it purple?) Belt and in addition, he attends other classes with the sole purpose of coaching others.  His next belt graduation will be the last one where the ceremony is public. Once he receives his brown belt (likely by the end of the year), all the graduations are done after a private grading session with his Sensei.

David is home schooled (mostly by his mom). Due to his interest in Karate, he also developed a strong interest in learning Japanese, so that is part of his home schooling curriculum. It's fun to hear him teach me new Japanese words and phrases every so often. But, I can say I was glad I was born in Northern Ireland and not Japan! I enjoy writing the odd poem but Haiku is not my thing.

Some of David's other activities include Lego building. Ever since he's been about three years old, he's been a Lego monster! I am not sure how many sets he has, but a few hundred at least wouldn't be too far off in my estimation.

Although we haven't been able to get out much this year, David also enjoys fly fishing with me and has tied up his flies as well. That is part of his home schooling - learning about bugs and stuff, although we don't call it "Entomology Class." That is the nice thing about home schooling - kids get to learn about all kinds of things in an environment when they are interested - and with David that's been most of his waking time.

He also enjoys earning money and has a bit of an entrepreneurial spirit, so I think he's well set for life. I purchased a book for him and he did a book review, with all proceeds of the sales as a result of the book review going to him. It was about a fly fishing fly named "Olive" who is is a Wooley Bugger. You can read David's book review here:

http://about-flyfishing.com/library/weekly/olive-the-little-woolly-bugger.html

Anyhow, I love to talk and write about my son, David. He's an awesome wee man that I'm very proud of and very happy he is in my life! Welcome to being double digit in age, David! I look forward to many more to come with you!

Ian Scott On Ross Goldberg's Latest

Ian Scott recently had an interesting conversation going in comment form with Ross Goldberg. It was in regard to a review Ian had written on a Warrior Forum product (they call them WSO's - short for Warrior Special Offer) that Ross had been involved in producing.

Interestingly, Ian couldn't recommend the product outright although he did write that if you wanted to buy it, you should do some research before implementing some of the methods that are in the course.

Not everything in the course is controversial, of course - but SEO these days has changed considerably since Google introduced their Penguin update. The Panda update also had some major effects on rankings for some websites, but Penguin really pushed things along where even high quality websites were, in some cases, obliterated from Google's SERP's.

The jury is still out on what might be the most effective way to get rankings back for sites that were Penguin slapped. There are some in the business who believe this update was all about back link profiles while others are just as adamant that it has all to do with onsite quality issues. Personally, I've seen a combination of factors, and I wouldn't even be surprised if Google added some "randomization" to their algorithmic update just to keep people guessing.

I'm still seeing some pretty crappy websites being ranked with low quality content (although some of these have been weeded out, but not all), while others that have excellent back link profiles and are quite aged (we're talking ten plus years old) get hit by the Penguin. I've also seen some recovery with looking at and removing on-site over optimization - and that's all we did. In some cases, diversifying back links including anchor text has helped with other sites.

And then there are some sites where nothing seems to help a site rank for anything important, at least going by what some of the website owners claim in a variety of forums where such discussions take place.

Some folk are claiming that SEO is dead after Penguin. I chuckle at that - some people have been claiming that for over a decade! Search Engine Optimization in some for or other will always be important, and as Ross advises, testing all the time is important. If you're interested to know about the course he was involved in, you can read about it here (and no, that is not an affiliate link).

Was your site affected by Google's Penguin update? If so, what have you tried to do if anything to get it back or are you looking at other ways to generate traffic?

More Of My Hobbies

In my last post, I wrote about my Boston Terrier, and yes, training puppies has always been a passion of mine. I remember getting my Shepherd Lab cross when I was about 25, and how much I thoroughly enjoyed training Tara. She was a great dog and a wonderful companion. But, I have many interests and hobbies. Sometimes, I will become interested in something and read and read and study, and learn as much as I can while I pursue it. I don't get tired of it, but I'll get back to one of my other ones and kind of sink myself into it. Some of the things I've done through the years include home winemaking, fly fishing of course, studying privacy and security issues, and I also ran a business at one point, building custom fishing rods. That started out as a hobby back in about 1984, when I wanted to do something really special for my dad's birthday. He needed a new fishing rod, and I came across the idea of custom building one at the Toronto Sportsmen's Show. I became fascinated with the idea and purchased a rod blank and all the components I needed, and set about learning how to build rods. That first rod was not one of my best, that is for sure, but my father appreciated it and it was well used. Later, I went on to build him a couple of fly rods as I decided to create a business out of the hobby, running the business out of my home. It certainly did not make me rich, but I had the opportunity to travel to seminars and make some new friends, many of whom are still in my circle of friends today. Today, while bouncing around on some web pages, I came across this accurate article on the history of custom rod building. It sure brought back some memories as I certainly remember when the Rod Guild was founded and I think I may even have a copy of one of the first editions of RodMaker Magazine. I have not built rods in quite some time. A marriage breakup which meant having to sell the house and me moving to much smaller digs to be able to afford the child support meant I had to focus on other things. But it sure is nice to pull off one of the old rods I built and fish it, and even come across clients I had 15 or more years ago,who say, "Hey, Ian! That rod you built me - I still use it and love it!" One of these days, I might get back into rod building again, but not as a business, I don't think. One of the things I think would be a lot of fun though is to sit down and build a rod with my nine year old son! And if he enjoys it, perhaps it will become a new hobby that he will want to learn more about and spend time doing.

My Boston Terrier

Taking a little break from the SEO posts as I've been rather busy with work related tasks which is good! I very much appreciate my clients and am glad of the work!

My Boston Terrier is sleeping on a blanket beside me. He is the cutest thing, most of the time. Did you know that Boston Terriers were originally bred to be pit fighters? It is hard to believe that such a gentle and loving breed were once thought to be something that would fight in a pit with so called "gentlemen" taking bets on which one would kill the other.

When they were first developed as a breed, they could be quite large but today, they more commonly grow to between 15 and 25 pounds. Often, they do not look as much as they weigh. When people pick p my Boston Terrier named Beans, they are often astounded by how much he weighs in their arms as he does not appear to be the 25 pounds or so that he is.

A couple of weeks ago marked his first birthday. I remember very well going to see him along with my girlfriend, Colleen Mackenzie, about 8 or 9 days after he was born and his eyes were just beginning to open up. Colleen and I both fell in love with Beans, and decided upon him right away. About 5 weeks later, we picked him up and he's been a great companion to me ever since.

Boston Terriers are a great breed to own if you have children. Although they are small, they are certainly not fragile and with a very spirited and fun nature, they love children! In fact, when my son comes to visit, Beans and David are forever hanging out with each other, and then when David has to leave, Beans cries like a human baby for sometimes up to 15 minutes. The noises that come out of him are hilarious at times!

When we first brought Beans home, we decided to feed him Iams puppy food. It is supposed to be a high quality food, however I became a bit concerned when I heard of pet food recalls. After quite a bit of research, I decided to put Beans on a raw meat for dogs diet and he has done so well on it! It is true that this type of diet is not quite as convenient as just putting kibble in a bowl, but in the end, it's not that bad either. Although I often feed him raw chicken including the bones, or other raw meats and bones, I can also purchase this ground up and made into patties that are frozen, at a local pet food store.

Today is liver day! It is important for dogs on a this type of diet to get organ meats for the additional nutrients that are not available in other meats. At the same time, organ meats should not be anywhere near the majority of the type of food they eat.

If you have a pet, you might want to consider getting him or her off a commercial diet!

Fake SEO Experts - Don't Hire One

Frequently, business proprieters get email spam from individuals claiming that they will increase their rankings in the earch engines. Some of the emails have the most ridiculous stuff in them. Promises of a #1 ranking or tons of traffic within days. Can they really live up to their claims after taking your money?

The truth of it though, because business owners crave more traffic and better rankings, these SEO businesses are forming to capitalize on these desires. Some of these so called SEO companies start up with one business name, and then a few months later, after taking money from the unsuspecting, doing a poor job, shut down and then pop up later with a different business name.

SEO is as much an art as it is a science. There are a number of methods that will have your site ranked higher on Google and Bing but you can't just depend on one way, alone. You risk an algorithm change and then your history.

Ian Scott, SEO expert was overheard not long ago pointing out that there are very few legitimate SEO businesses today.Ian has some expertise in the area of providing legitimate SEO services to clients throughout North America since 1997.

It is best to run from anyone that makes ridiculous claims about how fast you will rank #1 in the search engines. Anyone who makes you that kind of guarantee is just looking to take your money and run.

Some SEO companies will promise you page one Google rankings for the most obscure terms. What's the point of being ranked highly for something no one searches on? A fraudulent SEO expert once promised me number one rankings for a crazy keyword phrase about salt water fish in grand prairie.This was to do with a fly fishing site I had. Well, how many fly fishers would be searching that term in the first place? Because it is doubtful that there are any other websites that would even contain that term, it of course would not be difficult to get ranked for it. But what would it matter? What would that get me for the money they wanted to be paid for?

To see really good results that are useful, one must be patient. The work should be done in a comprehensive manner where a number of methods are used. There is no single SEO method that should be relied upon because Google is constantly adjusting the way it provides results. Search engine optimization requires knowledge of many different aspects and if you don't incorporate them all, you could find your site has dropped like a rock in the results pages the next time there's an algorithmic change.

Learn more about Ontario web consulting here

More On SEO

Do metatags matter these days? Yes and no. While they don't do much to help you get better rankings in the search engines, they do have some very important uses. There are so many myths about metatags these days, and if it's a subject that is important to you, you need to get the facts from someone who has been doing SEO successfully for over 15 years - not just theory, but reality.

Ian Scott writes about the description metatag. You should read the article if you are confused by what is important and what is not.

Dealing With Lightning And Youth Sports

At any given time throughout the world, there are a couple of thousands of lightning storms occuring. Each storm on it's own produces an astounding number of lightning bolts. Every bolt of lightning packs enough energy to keep a 100 watt lighbult lit for more than a quarter of a year. Given how often and how dangerous lightning can be, it is a wonder that more individuals don't suffer injury or death by these potent lightning bolts.

It is during the summer months in North America when most lightning strikes the ground. This is the same time when children are involved in outdoor sports.

In these situations, the adults involved -- the parents, coaches, and officials -- are responsible for ensuring the safety of the child athletes. A lightning policy should be in place and someone at the sports venues needs to be responsible for watching carefully the weather conditions and risks. It is not a good idea to gamble on personal observation of storms that might be brewing. The use of a portable lightning detector at the sports venue can provide superior advance warning and ensuring the safety of those involved.

Officials including convenors, referees and others involved in sports of children should be educated on how to ensure the safety of those attending the games when there is risk of lightning strikes.

If you can see lightning or hear the claps of thunder, it is a good idea to postpone the game and maybe even consider canceling it until another day. The kids you are responsible for are already at risk. Even though there may be no raindrops, the risk of lightning is quite high at your location. Many lightning strike injuries occur as the storm begins as many are just not aware of the risks. Some don't know that lightning strikes might occur fifteen kilometers distant from where the rain is falling.

Louder or more frequent thunder means that the storm is approaching, increasing your risk. When the delay in time between lightning bolt and hearing thunder is less than 30 seconds, your kids should be in a safe place already, or rushing to get there!

Having around weather warning devices including weather radio is important as a credible SkyScan lightning detector. However, do not let this information override good common sense.

Large buildings provide a much safer environment during a storm than smaller ones. Small structures like gazebos and cabanas should be avoided during thunderstorms.

Learn more about the ews pro lightning detector.