When you write any blog, especially if using WordPress, you do open yourself up to loads of Spam.

It is a known Black Hat Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) technique, in other words it can help your position on Google if you get loads of links to your website. So some SEO businesses post comments in random blogs in order to back links to their customers websites, but it is not always helpful, as realistically the link should be relevant, and Google will sometimes “punish” for this technique.

So on my painting website I get amused by the various comments I receive, and this one really made me laugh. Did they realise they were insulting me by assuming I was a senior citizen?

Thanks for your publication on the traveling industry. I’d also like to add that if you’re a senior thinking about traveling, it really is absolutely vital that you buy travel insurance for senior citizens. When traveling, seniors are at high risk of having a healthcare emergency. Having the right insurance plan package on your age group can safeguard your health and provide you with peace of mind.

Of course they were just trying to sell travel insurance, the blog isn’t anything about the travel industry, rather my painting techniques! But it made me laugh so I did approve it and left it for everyone to see!

Here is a really good article I found about how to be featured on Google search results for local businesses.

Using Google maps or places is a really good, cost effective way to promote your website to your local community, without costing you the earth. In fact it just the time it takes to set it up. But read the article for more information.

Google personalise their search engine results according to the websites you have visited and what you have searched for before.

I have noticed an increase in this recently. I had been searching for Hotels in Paris and looking at Eurostar deals, not only did I then get emails from the likes of Trip Advisor, Thomson’s related to this, but when I was on Facebook various adverts came up with different deals.

Now this is could be quite helpful if it means you get the best deal but if you are searching for where your business appears on search engines you could be getting a misleading result.

Channel Computing has written a really good article entitled “You are not really on page 1 of Google“, they explain it in more detail and also what you can do to avoid it, worth a read.