Checked out the new Live Search Webmaster Center, Microsoft’s answer to Google Webmaster Central.

It’s new — so new that I find it virtually useless. Since I presume it’s in beta, I expect more improvements in the coming months. But curious that the panel displays something they call “Domain Rank”.
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I was one of the few lucky ones to attend the Search Engine Marketing Conference (SEMCON) in Manila a week ago. Yes, I flew all the way from Davao City to attend it. And I’m glad to say it was worth it! The SEMCON was organized by my SEO expert/friend Marc Macalua of SEO Philippines.
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From my experience of running a web directory and blog directory, I’ve come across dozens of blogs that join these so-called link “trains” to increase their Alexa and Technorati rankings. Some are also in the illusion that it will increase their Google PageRank. At Ratified.org, I know for a fact that a bulk of those in the top 20 participate in such schemes. Had I excluded them, Bryan Boy would easily be #1. What happened to that plan anyway? Well, I decided to shelve it for now.
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I’ve been following Benj’s progress at the SEO World Championship for quite some time now. I and several other SEO Philippines members even handed him some link love to help out in our own way. Two days ago I became a bit anxious if he was really going to win. Even if he was consistently on top, we can never tell how the standings would end up knowing how unpredictable search engine results are.
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The new Google PageRank updates are now reflecting on our toolbars. Thanks to the SEO Philippines message board for the heads up. Again, Google has been kind to me. Ok maybe too kind. Besides maintaining my directory’s PR 7, all the top categories have garnered a PR 6 each, including a good number of lower categories. My two other blogs, Darn Slick and My Davao City both shot up to PR 5. It’s also great to hear that a lot of Seo.ph members earned some PR gains on their sites.

I see Google PageRank as a “please factor’ that I like to look at on my toolbar every now and then. I tend to just work on content and backlinks and leave it to Google to judge if I’m doing a nice job. Other sites link to me not just for the sake of it. They link to me because I give them good reason to — great, original, interesting content. If that reflects on my PageRank, then wonderful. A high PageRank does go a long way in SEO terms — you get crawled more frequently, thus keeping your cache fresh, you get a better chance of ranking higher for keywords you’re targeting and as a result you get higher traffic. I’m an SEO junkie, so don’t blame me for liking PageRank or any kind of rank for that matter.
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I strongly believe that one’s ability to search or browse the Internet can be hindered by their failure to spell words correctly. No wonder domaineers are filthy rich. So many people in the world can’t spell!

Take for example this query made in my search engine:

Initial query:

Freindster

Follow-up query:

Freindster pics

Then:

Freindster pictures

Freindster freinds

I doubt the poor guy found what he was looking for. Misspellings such as this (freind) are more commonplace than you think. About 10% of all search queries are misspelled. That’s why Friendster, like it should be spelled, also bought the domain Freindster.com before them domaineers can snap it up. I have read here and there that optimizing for wrongly-spelled words may also improve traffic, but I tend to disagree. It may increase traffic but definitely not improve it. One of the things I look at in sites such as blogs is the credibility of the writer. Are his posts useful? Do his posts help me make a good decision? Does he spellcheck before publishing?
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Linking could possibly be my middle name. I like giving away links. So if you intend to get a link from my directory, what are you waiting for? Just make a request here and brace yourself for all the PageRank you’ll be receiving. Be sure to follow all the instructions carefully. If you get listed, you get bonus links from my link aggregator blogs at Suprglu and Xfruits. How cool is that?

The new Google Webmaster Central brings together all the tools webmasters need to monitor and optimize the way the big G treats their sites. I think that it’s about time they came up with this. Gone are the days when we have to search for link:domain to check for backlinks. It’s all there at Webmaster Central. Simply log on to your Google account, add your site and verify it through meta tags or HTML.

A list of my pages and the number of external links pointing to them:
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Looking at Dennis Agulo’s Seobunker, two entries from Davao City are making a killing in the rankings! Fellow Davaoeno Jun Macha-macallit (who’s kinda makulit) is currently in second place while Dennis himself is in the top 8. Wow, go team Davao!!

Link love: (don’t forget my coffee and dessert guys)

Ituloy Angsulong - Seobunker
Ituloy Angsulong entry by a Proud Moro

These rankings are at best preliminary. There’s still 19 days to go. Anything could happen then! Good luck everyone!

Last minute link bubble bath for my SEO ‘bro Mito in Cagayan de Oro:

Ituloy Angsulong

Pastillas ko ok?

Finally, I got to meet Marc and Abe in person at Jill’s (@ the Fort) where SEO Philippines’ first Beercon was held. It was perfect timing. I got home from Thailand that day October 28, refreshed and renewed after a tedious work schedule and a cold that wouldn’t go away (I’m better now). What a perfect way to cap a terrific vacation.

Google’s Country Representative, Aileen Apolo, made an interesting presentation about Google and its plans for the Philippines. Unfortunately, setting up a real brick-and-mortar office isn’t included in those plans. But who knows. But, she encouraged everyone to be GAP (Google Advertising Professional) certified and rounded up the benefits of doing so — you get recognition from Google and basically a great career ahead of you. Demand for Adwords is picking up in the Philippines so getting certified is a no-brainer if you’re a brooding SEM. Marc mentioned a while back that he wants to be the first Filipino to be certified. Hope he gets it so many others will follow suit!

Aileen is also visiting the South, particularly my city Davao! Yeah! I look forward to helping her out in her gigs here.

Pics after the jump.
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Cool! Alleba Blog now has a PR 5! Up from a 4. Other pages on this site also enjoyed a boost.

Again, I ask… how did your sites do?

I don’t want to make a bigger fuss out of it than it already is.

But yes, John Bertrand, you suck. You are SEO’s version of George Bush. You’re old, you’re stupid and no one gives a shit about what you have to say.

More: JNB Web Promotion is a Freeloader

Here’s a cool way to figure out just how “big” a fish you are in the ocean that is the World Wide Web. Uses backlink information from Yahoo!

Find out if you’re a Big Fish. Sad, I’m just a small smelt.

Related Link: Debt Consolidation free quote

It’s September!! In a few weeks, we will know who the winner is of the Isulong Seoph contest! I’m still surprised to see my ex-entry IsulongSeoph.ws somewhere in the third page, haha. I’ve been a bad sponsor though. I haven’t been paying attention to what’s been happening in the contest for months! But it’s only right that I begin monitoring it more closely now that it’s only a breath away before it’s finally over. I also hope that the preparations for the awarding ceremony are at least being planned already. I’d love to be around for that, but certain factors made it difficult for me to go through with my trip. Who knows, that may still change.

I’ve read that some participants, although front runners, have already quit the contest, such as Alfa Mercado and Jozzua. I totally understand. Joining the contest and learning something from it is a victory in itself. The prize pot is but secondary.

Anyway, I’d like to give shoutouts to the contest organizer Marc for a successful and fruitful endeavor this came out to be. Also congratulations to the top 10, in particular IsulongSeoph.org who’s currently at #1.

There are hints of a major PageRank and backlinks update.

My sites are holding steady, but one site I handle dropped a point — which is fine.

One big surprise is that some Isulong Seoph sites are hitting PR’s of 6’s and 5’s. The competition is getting red-hot!

As far as backlinks are concerned, Google’s been ignoring some major sites linking to me, it’s frustrating!! This has been going on too long already it’s not even funny. Should I write Google about it? It’s pathetic I know, but I just want to get a clear answer on this matter.

How are your sites doing?