SEO next steps: time to build some links

I've been merrily working at my SEO over the last few weeks, ever since I wrote my first post on the subject. When I say merrily, I of course mean doggedly typing and clicking to amend my page titles, meta descriptions and add keywords (not too many, mind you).

And the result? www.scarfenvy.com now ranks #1 for... "scarf envy". Whoop-de-doo. I rank somewhere in the depths of Hell itself for anything useful like "scarves" and "scarf". Here's the whole sad shebang in a nice little table:

The pink and green denote worsening or improving ratings compared to the last time I checked. And for "scarf envy uk" it's my Freeindex entry that's rating #1, so that's OK. Not doing bad on "statement scarves" now and that is totally down to the SEO work I have done - I ranked nowhere on that before I started. But honestly, how many people search for "statement scarves"?

So, how can I improve my rankings for "scarves" or "scarf"? I think getting some links back to the site is the answer, so I have been trying to work on that. I've set up a Scarf Envy blog on Tumblr and I've been posting photos of celebrities wearing scarves and street-style shots that feature scarves. I'm getting a fair few reblogs, but I have no idea if this helps at all in the grand scheme of things.

The blog is at blog.scarfenvy.com. Is this is a mistake in itself? Am I merely creating link juice for the wrong URL entirely? I do have a prominent link to the shop on the blog and vice versa.

I'm also commenting on various fashion blogs as myself, giving blog.scarfenvy.com as my URL. I ummed and ahhed about using the main domain, but decided against that because it looks too spammy to me.

Right now I'm wondering whether I should create a "normal" blog and just have links to Scarf Envy on Tumblr, Pinterest, Twitter and Facebook. I just don't know. Any ideas? Forget the whole thing and flog the scarves on a market stall? (Joke. Kind of.)

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Perfect last minute Valentine's for the geek in your life

Forgotten to get your geek a Valentine's card? Here's a quick way to make him or her smile:

Obviously you send the linked heart in a message, not the graph itself. If you're not as geeky as your other half (or me), here's what you need to know:

• How to type ♥ on your keyboard = Alt + 3 (on your numberpad)
• What to link it to = http://bit.ly/AFrhoT, which is the graph on Google

Just sent mine to ORM via email. Time will tell if he notices/responds/swoons (it's just not gonna happen, folks).

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Virtual Community Summit 2012: The Awards!

Yesterday was the inaugural Virtual Community Summit, held in the beautiful (but ever so chilly) Royal Institute of Great Britain. And great it was. Fantastic speakers and lively panel discussions galore and - most importantly - a live twitter feed (#vircomm12). The latter being the most fun a group of community managers can have in an enclosed space.

I was manning the twitter feed looking for questions from virtual attendees to put to the speakers and panelists. Turns out I was supposed to be watching some other gizmo for that, but when I checked that first thing it wasn't loading for me and I promptly forgot all about it. Apologies to the 5 people who have pressing questions unasked/answered. 

I also stepped in to be the mic passer-arounder while new-found friend Sarah went to one of the sessions in the other room, but I sucked at that too. Andy was just too damn fast on his feet for me and I didn't manage to proffer my mic to anyone. Shame really, I was looking forward to some pretend roving reporter antics.

(I did the copywriting for the website too; I may not be the best volunteer, but I'm nothing if not eager.)

I am sure plenty of the more academic attendees will provide proper commentary to the content of the various sessions, panels and round tables (no tables at all, quite a misnomer), so I will not. I will, however, proffer my suggestions for the Vircomm Summit 2012 Awards:

Best Quote of the Day: "Smiling from the wrists down" by Emma Monks

Best Supporting Quote of the Day: "I'm smiling from the ankles up" by Sarah Broughton

Best Evil Overlord: Patrick O'Keefe (aka Big Giant Head):

Award for Services to Writers: "You can train great writers to be social, but you can't necessarily train great socialisers to write" by Dominic Sparkes (We writers-turned-community managers thank you!)

Most Alarming Tweet Sent to Me: "I saw you on the live feed"

Joint Award for Great Event Planning: Oxana Morozowska & Rebecca Newton

And finally...

Most Uplifting Quote of the Day: "There has never been a better time to be a community manager" by Tamara Littleton 

Thanks to everyone; a great day was had by all. Looking forward to next year already!

Now, how to customise the free tote bag...

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