Google Webmasters support:

Make pages primarily for users, not for search engines.

We’ll have to convince them to come to Phoenix. I don’t want to wait a year for video.

• Warming Up – So much of writing is about preparation. At the gym, if your muscles haven’t been stretched and limbered-up, you’ll risk injury, cramps, etc. Likewise, when I’m getting ready to write for the web, I always make sure I know which keywords I’m targeting and where my linking opportunities will be. Stretching the brain is an important first step before writing begins.
• Getting Started – This can be one of the hardest parts of any workout. Even after a sound warmup, before you actually start the real activity, you don’t always feel like going through with things. That’s where it’s important to remain focused. Before writing, the feelings are often the same. You just have trouble feeling the subject or direction or you aren’t sure if you have the right search optimization strategy behind the copy you’re about to write. Again, just try to stay focused, trust your ability and get started.
• Maintaining Intensity – There’s always that guy in the gym, who takes way too long between sets and sort of wanders over to the TV for long stretches while you want to use the equipment he’s using. No one wants to be that guy, but we almost all are at one time or another. The breaks between sets can really hurt your ability to progress toward your goals, and it’s the same when you’re writing or optimizing a site. Write with a purpose and keep moving forward.
• Staying Hydrated – It’s that simple. Have a glass of water and make your mother happy.
• Finishing Every Rep – Half-assed workouts won’t do you any good. Those people you see in the gym who are trying to make a walking pace look like running are only fooling themselves. Make sure you finish the job when you write the site or the ad. Review your work and question everything you’ve written. Could I put a link there? Did I use the right word? It will pay off with better results in the end.
• Cooling Down – When you’re finished with a sound workout, you take just a few moments to stretch again and let your heart rate return to normal. Now, read the page to yourself one last time before you’re sure you’re done. Don’t scrutinize this time though, but be confident and read the page as if someone else wrote it. Enjoy your writing and the job well done.
• Resting – Any weightlifter will tell you that the real work is done between workouts, when the body is rebuilding the muscle, stronger than before. That’s really the key to achieving your goals in the gym, and in the craft of writing. When you aren’t writing, read about it. Read for pleasure, read for work, and read to your kids. Sometimes the best inspiration will come from people who do it better than you.

I’m always looking to other writers for the various connections they make to other aspects of their lives and their writing, so if you have something to share about your process, please do.

What you must be thinking now is “How can he say that he knows ways to improve search ranking, when the search engines are keeping their formulas a secret?” Well, the proof is in the pudding, as they say. Search engine optimization, or SEO, is oftentimes a matter of using the scientific process. Try something and if it doesn’t work, try something else. Eventually you’ll come to proven conclusions of how to improve your search ranking.

The following are 3 quick ways you can improve your search ranking:

• Improve your keyword use. – This doesn’t mean keyword stuffing. It also doesn’t mean overloading the keyword meta data that Google actually ignores. What it really means is using words and phrases that relate specifically to your business and improve the quality of your site. The search robots are constantly under the watchful eye of actual humans, and as such, they are continually redesigned and improved in order to give optimum results to searchers. Don’t try to trick them. The bottom line here is that you need to create quality content that serves your customers and web users. Or you can find someone who will help you improve your ranking.
• Use keyword specific page titles – Quick! Look up at the top of your browser window. Way at the top. Now that I have you back, I’m sure you noticed that there was some writing up there that displayed the title of this blog post, and the name of the website you’re visiting. So why’s this important? That writing at the top of the page is the very first bit of content that a search engine robot sees when it comes by to index your site. That makes it a first-impression of sorts, and you know the deal about first impressions. Improve your ranking by inserting meaningful keywords that relate to the content for that page into the title tag.
• Invite others to link to your site – Amongst SEO specialists, the typical opinion of ranking formulas is that one of the most important aspects of search ranking is linking. There are a lot of other elements that make up the supposed formula, such as the popularity of the sites that link to yours and where the links are on the page, but the main idea is to attract links. If you have a blog, invite guest bloggers to write a post and then link back to your site from theirs. It’s also important to have quality linkable content that other sites will want to reference. Lastly, you should be linking out to other sites as well. Improving your search ranking can be as simple as becoming a part of the community of people in your field.

These steps may seem oversimplified to the experienced eye, however they can make a difference. Getting to the first page of search results can have a major effect on a company’s income, so why not give it a shot? Try these small steps and keep a sharp eye on your rankings for a few weeks, and if things don’t improve, try changing a few things and go back to watching the results. Sooner or later you’ll likely find a nice mix, and even if you don’t make it to page one, any small improvement in your search ranking could make a big difference.

Nike not only keeps their brand in front of the viewer, but uses the personal brands of LeBron and Kobe to promote the Nike brand as well. For those of you wondering what the chalk thing is all about, that’s this ridiculous thing that LeBron James stole from some other players like Kevin Garnett and . . . sorry. I started on a little basketball rant there. My bad. Back to the ads.

At this point you’re hooked, at least if you’re a basketball fan. The advertising is making you think about the real Kobe and LeBron, and what it might be like if they actually lived together. The trash talking and taunting would be amazing.

The general feeling amongst the basketball watching public was that these commercials were an attempt to promote a possible NBA Finals match-up between LeBron’s scrub Cavaliers and Kobe’s fantastically championship worthy Lakers. (Maybe I’m biased, but who really cares.) Now, this campaign was running well in advance of the Finals, which makes the risk associated with it a large part of why it was such great advertising.

Now they’re just being silly.

I love it. After four of these, I can’t wait to see the next one. That’s great, memorable advertising. Like the conjunction junction commercials from when I was a kid. Heck, they even made t-shirts out of that advertising. Did I mention they have Most Valuable Puppets campaign t-shirts as well? Let’s get to what I think was really the best part of the campaign.

The babysitting gig gives Nike a chance to really showcase the brand. Taking Lil Dez to the shoe room to show him some shoes really puts Nike at the forefront. Great branding. Next, the campaign takes a turn, after LeBron has been eliminated from the playoffs.

With all of the hype surrounding the possible Kobe v. LeBron Finals now deflated, the true genius of the campaign shines. The writers at Weiden+Kennedy (whom I assume had the reigns on this campaign, as they typically do with most of Nike’s high profile stuff) embraced the currency of the events and effectively turned them into a joke. In one final parting shot, LeBron looks forward to next year.

Now I haven’t included all of the ads here, although it may seem like a lot at this point. There are still others involving hilarious puppet activities like jumping into a car, being in two places at once and a post-Finals-winning celebration.

Perhaps the spots could’ve been as good with live action characters, but would you have as much fun watching them? Would they be nearly as memorable? My guess is no on both counts. The puppets, on top of all of the other great aspects of the campaign, make the advertising unforgettable.

Advertising can be all at once, art, entertainment, and sales tool. This campaign is one of the few that I can remember accomplishing all three of those things.

I hope they do it again next season.