7 Price Comparison Websites You Should Bookmark Right Now | Dramel Notes

Price comparison websites, also known as comparison shopping engines, are essential for getting the best deals on the Web, especially when you don’t have the time to hunt down coupons or wait for deals.

Why visit over 10 different retailers when you can get all of their prices on one page?

But not all price comparison websites are equal, and the best one for me might not work for you (because we aren’t necessarily comparing the same products from the same places). The following criteria is what you should look for:

• Wide selection of vendors and product categories;
• Advanced search and filter options;
• Reliable and timely customer service;
• Smart and user-friendly interface.

That being said, here are some of the better price comparison websites currently available. Only you can decide which one is best for your needs.

1. Google Shopping

Google Shopping is an example of what Google does best: scraping data from around the Web and presenting it to you in a way that’s clean, straightforward, and usable. And best of all, the price comparison feature is part of the search engine itself.

To use it, all you have to do is search for a product under the Shopping section. After selecting one of the results, you’ll see a few photos, a product description, any available reviews, and most importantly, pricing information from dozens of retailers.

The product result page automatically shows you the lowest available price, but if it comes from a retailer that you can’t or don’t want to use, then you can expand to see the complete table comparison. It also has a convenient toggle for when you want to buy used or refurbished.

Regional Availability: Over 20 countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia.

2. PriceRunner

If you’re in the United Kingdom, the first site you should check is PriceRunner. Not only does it specialize in UK-based vendors, but it also lists vendors for free, which is unique since nearly every other price comparison website receive commissions from the vendors they list.

Needless to say, PriceRunner’s impartial approach to price comparison means that its results are more trustworthy than most other sites.

The website interface is modern and fresh. Product pages have price histories, price alerts, product information, and reviews. There’s even a map that shows where you can buy the product locally if that’s what you prefer.

Regional Availability: Only in the United Kingdom.

3. Shopbot

Shopbot is one of the primary options for price comparisons in Australia. Dozens of categories are covered, so you can search for pretty much any product and it will likely appear as long as it isn’t too niche.

The clean and modern interface makes the entire process easy, and one bonus is that most products include a Shopbot Review, which appears to be a handwritten review (not pulled from elsewhere). The additional Expert and User Reviews are helpful as well.

The vendor variety is pretty good, too, which means you’re likely to find good deals. Overall, this site is great and worthwhile for any Australian shopper.

Regional Availability: Mainly in Australia. However, sister sites exist for half a dozen other countries, including Canada, Brazil, India, and New Zealand.

4. BizRate

BizRate has been a leader in the price comparison scene for quite a while, mostly due to its easy-to-use website and above-average results. Unfortunately, in terms of sheer savings and retailer variety, it often loses to Google Shopping.

However, there are a few features in favor of BizRate. For example, thanks to a partnership with Retrevo, BizRate is able to provide download links to PDF user manuals for hundreds of thousands of devices and gadgets.

There’s also a Price Alert feature on every product comparison page. All you have to do is enter your email address and a price threshold, and whenever BizRate detects that the product has fallen within your alert range, it’ll shoot you a notification.

Regional Availability: Mainly in the United States. However, sister sites exist for a few other countries: BizRate UK, BizRate Canada, Prixmoinscher, SparDeinGeld.

5. NexTag

Having launched in 1999, NexTag is without a doubt one of the oldest surviving sites on the Web, yet even so, it hasn’t run out of steam. In fact, it’s doing as well as ever and doesn’t seem to show any signs of slowing down.

Like BizRate, NexTag offers price alerts on each product, but unlike BizRate, NexTag has a better and cleaner system for determining the quality and trustworthiness of a given seller. But overall, the interface is a little clunky and outdated, which makes NexTag somewhat uncomfortable to use.

Regional Availability: Mainly in the United States. However, sister sites exist for a few other countries: Australia, France, Germany, Japan, and the United Kingdom.

6. Yahoo! Shopping

What is Yahoo! good for? They lost the search engine war against Google, and ever since then, they’ve been a nebulous entity — everyone has heard of them to some degree, but nobody knows what they do. As it turns out, they do a little bit of everything now.

Yahoo! Shopping is a simple tool. You search for an item and it pulls as many matches as it can from over 800 online stores covering dozens of categories. It does find some good deals sometimes, but the results tend to be hit-or-miss.

The interface is surprisingly clean, but a little too scant for my tastes. When products are listed in grid mode, you only see the listing title and the price. In list mode, you also see the description. Otherwise, you have to click through to see the full product, which can be a nuisance.

Regional Availability: Over 50 countries. If your country has a Yahoo! portal, then you likely have a regional form of Yahoo! Shopping as well.

7. Pronto

Pronto supposedly pulls product data from thousands of stores across the Web, but when I gave it a try, I kept seeing the same 10 or so retailers pop up over and over again. A little more variety would go a long way towards better marks.

As for the results themselves, they were okay. It can definitely find prices that are cheaper than Amazon, but I’ve managed to find better prices with other comparison engines. This may be due to the lack of retailer variety mentioned above, or it could be due to some other factor I can’t see.

The interface is simple and easy to use, albeit a little slow. There are plenty of filters to help you find the exact products you want. Overall, Pronto is good for finding items for cheap, but not necessarily for comparing retailer prices on a specific item.

Regional Availability: Only in the United States.

Other Ways to Save Money Online

Price comparison websites are truly useful, but they are only one aspect of saving money online. For example, these tips for smart shipping and these genius money-saving tricks can help you save even more.

Ultimately, though, the key to saving money is learning to be financially responsible so you don’t end up drowning in consumer debt.

Which price comparison website is your favorite? Which features do you consider to be essential? Let us know in the comments below!

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Make Your New Year Resolutions Work with 9+ Super Tools | Dramel Notes

Science says new year resolutions are a good idea because we end up dissociating from our old selves and look forward to starting anew. But a little help never hurts, right? The Internet is full of fantastic websites and resources to aid in your quest to make a better you.

Last year, Nielsen conducted a survey to find the most popular new year’s resolutions. Let’s see which websites can help you accomplish one of those.

Stay Fit and Healthy (37%) and Lose Weight (32%)

The most popular resolution was physical health, with more than one out of every three people making that their top priority. For many people, that means losing weight. But that’s just a part of it. You need to look at overall physical improvement.

Darebee

One of the cooler resources for this is Darebee, made by Neila Rey, author of 100 No-Equipment Workouts. Why? Because Darebee makes workouts fun by tying them into popular culture, and keeps challenging you to do more and more.

Each exercise routine is made into an infographic like “The Hunger Games workout” or “The Batman Workout” and so on. They are all full-body workouts comprising different sets and reps that focus on aspects like power, agility, muscle density, and so on. Everything is available as a freely downloadable poster. And you don’t need to go to the gym either.

Darebee has plenty more, such as a series of 30-day programs, challenges for fitness buffs to push themselves, preparation programs for running marathons or sprints, and so on. There are also downloadable PDFs for motivational posters, meal plans, as well as articles on nutrition, recipes, meditation, and general fitness.

If you need anything more, head to Darebee’s Hive discussion forums to talk to others following a healthy lifestyle.

r/LoseIt

Speaking of forums, Reddit’s communities are fantastic for keeping your new year’s resolutions. In the weight loss department, r/LoseIt is at the top of the list as several people post pictures of their progress in shedding those pounds, offer advice on what worked and didn’t for them, share links about different diet plans, and so on.

If you’re new to r/LoseIt, you need to learn how to use it well. First, go through the all-time top posts to know what the community likes and has already discussed, then go through the hot and top posts in the last month. Check our awesome guide to Reddit to know more about how to behave when you’re a newbie in a community.

For more weight loss tips, here are some unexpected lessons I learnt in my daily exercise habits.

Enjoy Life to the Fullest (28%)

A sound body needs a sound mind. Far too many of us are caught in the minutiae of daily life and all its many frustrations. We lose sight of the big picture and stop living life to the fullest, and enjoying every bit of it. Seize the day, as Robin Williams put it in Dead Poet’s Society. Meditation is a great way to start appreciating life.

Pixel Thoughts

Whenever life is weighing down too heavily on your mind and your shoulders, fire up your browser and go to Pixel Thoughts. The purpose of this site is simply to put your troubles in perspective, and remind you that you are only a small part of the mysteries of this universe.

Accompanied with soothing music, Pixel Thoughts asks you to put your biggest worry into a bubble. The 60-second meditation tool then asks you to keep looking at that bubble, as it displays messages to calm you down, while making the bubble smaller and smaller.

It’s a popular meditation technique put into a digital form, and more often than not, it’ll work wonders for you.

Sattva

Sattva isn’t the first free, cross-platform meditation tool we’ve recommended and it won’t be the last. But it is a special app, in the number of guided meditation exercises it offers. if you’re new to the idea of meditation.

The Sativa web app lets you customise your meditation based on the number of minutes you have, or the type of help you need. Choose a timed or guided meditation, the ambience you want, and the alarm bell to announce the end of the session. Tell Sattva about your current mood and off you go.

Sign up and Sattva also tracks the amount of time you’ve meditated, unlocking trophies and thus turns building this habit into a game. And yeah, there are free mobile apps available for Android and iOS too.

More than anything else, Sattva’s insights engine provides a look at how meditation is improving your life. As we’ve already mentioned, you need to track your core goal to achieve it, not the steps to it, and Sattva gives you a glimpse of how much more you are getting out of life.

Spend Less, Save More (25%)

Everyone sets out with the intention of saving more money, but we don’t end up cutting our expenses. Personal finance can be complicated, daunting, or overwhelming. Understanding how to get your money under control is a big part of being an adult.

EveryDollar

Finance guru Dave Ramsey put his teachings into the form of a web app this year. EveryDollar takes Ramsey’s seven baby steps system and digitises it.

The idea is to start with an Emergency Fund of $1000, move on to paying off debt, then saving 3 to 6 months of expenses, and then get into investments, college tuitions for the kids, paying off your mortgage, and building wealth to give to charity.

The EveryDollar app is a fantastic way to start on your path to being financially solid.

The Simple Dollar

Trent Hamm of The Simple Dollar was, like many of us, steeped in debt and unable to see a way out. But slowly and surely, he beat his way out of it, and ended up building an incredible web resource out of it. Hamm’s articles offer everything from simple tips like keeping a visual reminder of your debt to complex, long-term financial plans.

Hamm makes an effort to simplify money management because he knows just how intimidating financial jargon is for someone new to the idea of saving money and cutting expenditure.

Apart from these two resources, there are plenty of financial tools you can use. Dann showed how to save money with apps and websites, tying the principles of finance with the best tools to apply them.

If all you’re looking for is the best web app for financial management, then it has to be Mint. Our beginner’s guide to managing your money with Mint will get you started and even show you a few tricks if you’re already a user.

Get Organized (18%)

How do you look to improve your life if your life is completely scattered? You don’t have a list of things you need to do, you don’t have a calendar of your appointments, you don’t know your goals… life, in general, is too chaotic. For the 18% of you who want to get organised, it’s time to put a plan in place.

MindMup

If your brain is overloaded with the number of things you need to track, you should try a brain dump and mind-mapping. Mind-mapping is the practice of brainstorming by getting stuff out of your head and into text, then joining the elements to come up with solutions. The most popular free one is MindMup, although it has some limitations, so you should check out other useful web-based mind mapping tools.

Saikat has also looked at plenty of free mind-mapping tools and how to best use them, which provides some valuable insights in the different methods of mind-mapping and how to apply those lessons with digital tools.

Follow the Leaders

Here’s the thing though: The right tool or website depends upon the kind of organization you need. There is no one-size-fits-all solution when it comes to organization. In fact, you might need to change your organization style multiple times till you find one that works for you. I still recommend the three-strike system to keep changing. Hence, recommending one website or productivity method alone isn’t in your best interest.

Instead, here are a few resources and writers that you should follow regularly, and in the course of that, you’ll end up discovering the best organizational method:

• Zen Habits
• Laura Vanderkam of Fast Company
• A Life of Productivity
• Mark and Angel Hack Life
• Asian Efficiency

It’s going to be a lot of great information and tips, so you’ll also need to learn how to organize and remember life hacks.

While you’re following these leaders, you still need to get started in some way. Most successful people have one habit in common: every night, they review their current day and plan the next day. To begin, try the Storyline Productivity Schedule.

It’s a pen-and-paper productivity planner, so you’ll need to print out the free downloadable PDF and use it for your daily review. Alternately, you could turn it into a template for any digital tool of your choice, and copy-paste every day for a recurring app. Either way, first read the basics of the method before you get started.

All Other Resolutions: Guidebook

The secret that no productivity expert will tell you is that if you start leading an organized life, it is much easier to start on the rest of the good habits you want to form. Once you step out of chaos and have a plan, you can slowly add any new habit.

Whether you want to spend more time with family (19%), learn something new (14%), travel more (14%), or anything else, the first step is to organize your life.

In case you’ve already got organized and are now looking to add more, then Chris Bailey’s guidebook to new year’s resolutions is the place to start. It’s a free ebook that details the steps to achieving your resolutions, and has invaluable tips. Bailey guarantees that if you follow his plan, you’ll achieve any goal you set your mind to this year.

What’s Your Resolution?

According to studies, you should declare your goals publicly to have a higher chance of achieving them.

So let’s start, people!

Tell the world your new year’s resolution in the comments below, and if you have a website not listed above that can help achieve it, share with us!

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Design Your Own Christmas Cards with These 6 Websites | Dramel Notes

Christmas is right around the corner, and that means Christmas card season is here! Why not design your own cards this year for a personal touch?

These six websites will help you design your cards, whether you want to add photos, use stock cards, send them out yourself, have them sent out for you, or do it all electronically. And maybe best of all, they’re significantly cheaper than cards you’d buy in a store. Be sure to share your favorite Christmas card sites in the comments below!

Shutterfly

In addition to being one of the biggest photo sharing sites out there, Shutterfly offers a huge variety of Christmas cards—just under 900, at the time of writing. Religious, non-religious, foil stamped, multi-fold, shaped, square, even cards that double as Christmas ornaments. There are so many designs that you’ll certainly be able find one that works perfectly for you. The number that you buy will determine how much you pay; once you get above 75 or so, the price starts to get down below $2.

Then just add a greeting, a picture (or several pictures), and include a message on the inside; you can even choose the envelope and liner. Finalize your order, and Shutterfly will ship them to you to be addressed, stamped, and sent on their way. There are always lots of deals and online coupons to help you save on Shutterfly cards too, so this can be a very economical option.

Tiny Prints

Like Shutterfly, Tiny Prints gives you a lot of options for creating your card with a picture of yourself or your family, including some that double as Christmas ornaments, too. Tiny Prints’ laser-cut cards stand out from the rest of the options out there, and they also offer a number of foil-stamped designs to add some sparkle to your holiday season.

Trim and color options, letterpress, glitter, and other options let you customize your holiday greeting to suit you or your family’s style. As with Shutterfly, the pricing depends on the options you choose and how many you order, so you can pay just about whatever you want. The more you order, the better your pricing will be.

CardStore

One of the best things about CardStore is that you can have them mail your cards directly out to all of your recipients, saving you the time it takes to address and stamp all of those envelopes. Just upload the list of recipients, and they’ll each receive a copy of your card. You can also have all of your cards sent to your nearest Target store to be printed at a Kodak photo kiosk so you can pick them up without waiting for shipping.

If you’re not sold on the idea of including your picture on the front of the card, CardStore has a lot of stock options that you’ll like, from goofy character cards to more classic holiday greetings. And, of course, you can choose from a wide variety of sizes, formats, and designs to get the Christmas card that’s perfect for you.

Postable

Another company that will mail your cards for you, Postable is dedicated to bringing you high-quality, good-looking cards that will stand out from the rest (they’re also 100% recycled, which is nice). Both photo cards and non-photo cards are available, and simple flat cards start at $2. And the interface for typing your cards is as simple as can be.

You also have the option of creating fully custom cards by uploading your own image as the front of the card. The insides of cards can be customized with different fonts for adding a personal touch, and you can even schedule the send date of your cards so they go out whenever seems best. (If you’re in the midst of planning a wedding, consider Postable for wedding invitations, too!)

Punchbowl

There are tons of e-card sites out there, but Punchbowl is one of my personal favorites—there’s an opening animation, and you can customize the envelope and liner, but there isn’t any hokey music or falling snowflakes all over the screen. Just a very nice-looking, customizable card that you can send to anyone with ease. And because there are tons of free options, you can keep your Christmas communications costs to a reasonable amount this year.

You’ll need a membership to send any cards customized with your photos, but plans are very affordable; they start at $1.50 per month. Punchbowl also lets you send digital gift cards with your holiday greeting, so you can include a last-minute present or a quick thank you to someone special in your life. There are even business-themed Christmas cards that you can upload your logo to if you want a more professional card.

Paperless Post

With some of the nicest-looking e-cards out there, Paperless Post is a great option for anyone who wants to send out thoughtful e-greetings that look like high-quality paper ones. While the Paperless Post cards aren’t free, they’re very reasonably priced. The card that I customized, for example, would have cost about $1.20, making it significantly less expensive than a paper greeting (and you get some site credit for free when you sign up).

Your recipients will appreciate the high quality of the e-cards, and there are tons to choose from, so you can send the perfect card to everyone in your family. Paperless Post also offers a surprisingly large number of typefaces and colors, letting you customize your card exactly how you want it.

Your Favorite Christmas Card Sites

These six sites are some of the best out there, but there are a lot more sites that will let you customize your own Christmas cards. Which are your favorites? Do you prefer paper cards, or have you switched over to e-cards? Share your thoughts below!

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5 Online Radios That Travel Through Space and Time | Dramel Notes

Want to find back that one song?

Or get the feeling of listening to the radio like it was when you were a kid?

Today, Cool Websites and Apps brings you five sites that let radio listeners travel through time and space.

I grew up on a farm in rural Ontario, and one of the only ways to make physical labor interesting was to turn on the radio. I’ve got so many vivid memories of specific songs, and specific segments, from the early 2000s, mostly related to cold weather and moving hay around – but good memories nonetheless. Can I find some of those back?

It turns out yes, and I can do a lot more. We’ve shown you where to find unlimited online radio; here’s how to travel in time through that free radio and find exactly what you’re looking for. Let’s get started.

OnRad.io: Some Station Somewhere Is Playing Your Song

Somewhere on this planet, one of any hundreds of thousands of radio stations is playing your favorite song. It might be in Alabama, it might be in Zimbabwe, but odds are it’s playing somewhere. OnRadio lets you find out where that station is, and start listening right now.

A few years back we featured Radio Search Engine. OnRadio is the latest incarnation of that same service, this time with a refined interface that works well on mobile.

The idea is simple: search for a song, hear it instantly from some radio station somewhere. You won’t hear that track from the beginning, but you’ll typically hear most of it. You can leave the station on, if you’d like – odds are you’ll hear something you like and learn a little about the world while you’re at it. Or you can just search for another song, if you prefer.

You can copy any song’s URL and share it, if you’d like, or set up notifications so you can find out when a particular song is playing somewhere.

Radiooooo: Music from Any Decade/Nation Combination

Instantly travelling to where your favorite song is playing is cool and all, but you were promised time travel. Let’s start delivering on that, shall we?

Radiooooo gives you a map and a panel for selecting a decade. Just click a decade, then click a country, to hear a song from that particular place and time.

There is a wide world of music to explore here, so go ahead and dive in. I recommend pre-revolutionary Cuba as a place to start, but I’d love to know which gems you discover – and where. Leave some tips in the comments below, okay?

Rewind Radio: Travel to Radio Stations from Past Decades

Radio sucks these days – kids listening to their rap/pop/whatever-it-is-you-don’t-like just don’t realize what they’re missing. Back in the 90’s/80’s/whenever-you-grew-up, everything was way better.

If you feel that way, congratulations: you’re old! It’s okay, it happens to all of us eventually (and it is better than the alternative). Just know that there’s a remedy for your radio problem: Rewind Radio. This service uses Spotify’s catalog of songs to re-create radio playlists from any year – and even season.

Just find the exact time you last found radio to be appealing, then turn the volume up.

Remember: you’re not out of touch. It’s the children who are wrong.

Magic Transistor Radio: Open and Enjoy Some Early Rock

Magic Transistor is a podcast that looks into the early history of what we today call rock and roll. They also offer an interactive online radio, and it’s totally worth checking out if you want some great music you’ve never heard before.

Just open the site and start listening – you can change the station if something you don’t love comes on. There are some really great deep cuts here, so fire it up and enjoy.

Old Radio World: Archive of Old Radio Shows and Broadcasts

Radio wasn’t always all about music and news: it used to be full of dramas, comedies, and all sorts of things we now use TV for (or did use TV for, until we started replacing that with the web, but that’s another article entirely). Old Radio World is a great archive for finding out what some of that sounded like.

For the MakeUseOf crowd, I recommend diving into the science fiction stories. It’s amazing how far that genre has come, but there’s still something charming about its early broadcast roots (Flash Gordon!). History buffs shouldn’t miss the WWII archive.

There are lots of ways to find amazing free audio dramas, but this site offers a great starting point. Dive into the early days of radio!

What Radio Era Would You Like to Travel to?

Do you have any fond radio memories? Let’s talk about those in the comments below, along with any resources for bringing them back.

Or, if nothing here satisfies you, why not start your own online radio station and create something that does? I’d love to hear from you, should you get something going. Let’s chat below!

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How to Find and Leverage the Freshest Links by @billsebald | Dramel Notes

If you oversee (or consult on) enterprise-level websites, you’ve experienced first-hand how unruly URL growth can be. URLs often sprout like weeds on even some of the most reputable CMS systems. Sometimes they die even faster when there are several hands (users) in the cookie jar. This experience is not just on your site; if you care about understanding your backlink profile as well, you may be blind to many links that actually exist—or worse, point to dead URLs. It’s easy to get lost in a website’s labyrinth.

Truth is, sites of all sizes can present their own puzzles. In this piece, I’m going to talk about sources to track your external links. Then, I’ll discuss some ways to squeeze more value from these newly found links.

Chasing Down New Links Quickly

Release the hounds!

Wouldn’t it be amazing if Google let you download all the links they know about? Sure, they allow you to download a large portion via Search Console, but certainly not all the links in their brain. Google simply does not index or report on every URL they know about, even if they do routinely crawl them. You’ll have to chase them down.

This piece will mostly center on truly fresh links—that is, the links that are being created today. But to some degree we want to uncover the existing links you didn’t know about as well, so keep that in mind.

Let’s build one spreadsheet to rule them all!

Step one is to grab the link data from as many sources as possible. These are my favorites:

• The backlink data providers: Let’s start here because this is probably most SEO’s first destination. The biggest providers, Open Site Explorer, Ahrefs, and Majestic SEO all have a “just discovered” or “new/fresh links” type of report. And they work. My biggest issue with these reports, while powerful, they leave plenty of new links on the table.  It’s understandable – each company has its own engine and crawl criteria – but they don’t have the same horsepower as Google. Nonetheless, export these links and add them to your master spreadsheet.
• Google and Bing Webmaster Tools: Both tools give you some nice link data. Not exhaustive, but a good sampling.
• Linkody: Here’s one that many people I speak to are unaware of. This tool does a great job of not only allowing you monitor links, but finding new links based on referral data in Google Analytics (among other ways). Pretty smart!
• MOZ’s Fresh Web Explorer: The Fresh Web Explorer is an engine that lets you search for keywords or brand mentions. You’ll often find pages here that are not in the “just discovered” report in OSE. It provides a 4-week snapshot and the ability to create alerts as well.
• Brand Mentions: This is a new service now in alpha (I was lucky enough to be invited in) that is quite impressive. Brand Mentions is similar to MOZ’s Fresh Web Explorer, which has been providing a larger set of results through my trial.
• Mention: Mention is another alternative that has decent results.
• Social Mention: Not to be confused with the above service, Social Mention adds a more social slant with some nice data.
• Buzzsumo: Buzzsumo is one of my favorites. It also provides alerts when you’re mentioned and has proven to be more robust than Social Mention for my campaigns. It’s not free, but provides several other features for the cost.
• Google Alerts: Saved the worst for last. Unfortunately while Google Alerts may get the credit for inspiring everything above, it really has lost its great reputation. Pity too, since the best provider of this kind of data really should be Google.

Chasing Down New Links Slowly (But More Advanced)

• Unlinked Mentions Finder: Our own Sean Malseed has created RankTank.org, a site of free tools. One of his gems is this free Unlinked Mentions Finder. Why count an unlinked mention as a link? Because Google has been known to follow unlinked “naked” URLs (even though they may not pass PageRank). This also provides the ability to reach out and request a more powerful and concrete hyperlink.
• Google Analytics Referral Report: Like Linkody above, one great way to spot links that have not otherwise been found is simply reviewing your referral data. Provided the link received at least one click, you can pull years of referral data here.  You’ll need to scrub out links from email campaigns, but I guarantee you’ll find links here missed by the above tools.
• 404 Reports from Search Console: The crawl errors report in Search Console is powerful. By looking at your 404’s individually, you can click the “Linking From” tab. Often you can spot links from old sites. Restore or 301 redirect those bad boys to retain that link value. Since there’s no way to download this en masse, this process can be a nightmare (especially on enterprise level sites)./li>

Protip: Managing a disavow campaign? These are the same sources I use for that exercise as well.

Scrub the List

At this point, you’ve grabbed all the links you could find and thrown them into a spreadsheet. You’ve looked under some pretty well-hidden stones. Woo hoo—you’ll have a great list of backlinks! But the work isn’t over yet…

The truth is many of the links you have in your list are dead. It’s a common phenomenon on the web—someone posts a link, but the page or site dies for one reason or another.  Some of the tools we used above have out of date indices. It’s just the nature of their services. Let’s get those dead links out of there!

Screaming Frog provides the simplest solution. Take your new list and upload into Screaming Frog’s “list mode” to get a sense of what URLs are dead. Simply exclude them from your list by filtering out of excel.

I Have the Best Possible List of Live Links—Now What?

Now it is time to append useful metrics. A giant list of links is useless without metrics to inspire action – even at a thousand foot view.

The first step is to upload and store them in your favorite link manager. I prefer Buzzstream or Linkody for the ease of use and link metrics they obtain for you, but some others SEOs might be more Excel or Google Sheets reliant. To that end, make sure you use URLprofiler to pull the link metrics into your master links list. URLprofiler can provide a ton of great metrics to each URL with only a few clicks:

Links and Link Metrics Obtained—Drive it Home!

I like to think of links as opportunities. We know that today smaller links have less value than ever before, and relevance through the link is more important than ever. We also know that relationship building and digital PR is a strong focus for the modern SEO. Now it’s time to optimize your link profile and leverage these links (or opportunities).

At this point, you’ve probably noticed many new links you didn’t realize existed, even  despite years of backlink wrangling. Many of these are likely organic; thus, not a relationship you’ve created yet. Sort and prioritize your list by the most favorable metrics first and look for opportunities. I like to think of share and link counts as a proxy of popularity, as well as domain authority—so, I sort by those metrics first and work my way down the list.

• See any links from sites with high domain authority that you had no part of creating? Track down the author and get a conversation going. Maybe the author writes elsewhere? Maybe they would be willing to work with you in other capacities? You’ve already impressed them once—you should be able to do it again.
• See any new links that have some information wrong? Since the link is fresh, the author might respond better to an email suggesting a correction or enhancement. This could be your chance to add more relevance.
• See any links that are part of a conversation? You can jump in and add more context to that page, possibly making the value of that link more robust.
• See any trends on the kind of content that gets link more often? Go down that road and model some new, fresh takes on that topic.
• See republished content? Ask if the webmaster would be interested in an original piece.
• See any news sites? See if the webmaster would be interested in you as a columnist.

I would also recommend completing this exercise once a quarter if you really want to keep up with the speed of the web. It’s simple, somewhat enlightening, and the kind of nerdy fun SEOs truly enjoy.

 

Image credits

Screenshots taken Nov 2015 by Author
Featured image created by author on Canva.com

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5 Handy Dictionary Extensions for Quick Word Lookups | Dramel Notes

What do you do when you are reading an article and either do not know what a word means or would like more information on it? There are dictionary websites, of course, but there is nothing more convenient than using a browser extension for quick word look-ups.

If you are not sure which ones are available for the browser you use or do not know which ones really work and have the features you want, check out this list. There is sure to be one here perfect for your needs.

Dictionary.com (Firefox)

One of the most popular sites for word definitions is Dictionary.com and there is an extension for Firefox that you can use. Just double-click on a word and the extension will pop open a small box showing the pronunciation along with an audio icon to hear it. You will then see the definition and can click on the More link which will take you to the Dictionary.com website for additional details. For other browsers, you can also check out the Dictionary.com bookmarklet.

Dictionary Anywhere (Firefox and Opera)

Firefox and Opera have a great extension called Dictionary Anywhere (if searching for this for Opera, it is actually misspelled as Dictionary Anewhere). To use it, just double – click on any word on a Web page and select the small icon that appears. The word is then displayed with several options including translation, audio pronunciation, the definition, synonyms, and examples. You can also easily share the translation via email, text, or social media which is a handy bonus feature.

GoodWordGuide.com (Chrome)

GoodWordGuide.com for Chrome is a good dictionary extension. It provides a pop-up when a word is double-clicked like many others, but the pop-up is configurable which makes it flexible. Along with double-clicking, you can choose to have it open when you select a word or phrase. And, for both options you can choose a trigger key along with adjusting the font size.

The Free Dictionary (Most Browsers and Mobile)

The Free Dictionary is an extension that is available for Firefox, Chrome, and Internet Explorer. For mobile lookups, you can also download it for iOS, Android, Kindle, Nook, and Windows phone.

While not as nifty as some other dictionary extensions which provide easy-to-access pop-ups, The Free Dictionary does work and provides a lot of word information. When you double-click a word, you will actually be taken to The Free Dictionary website. You can then see the definition, hear or view the pronunciation, and check out synonyms or related words.

Urban Dictionary (Firefox and Chrome)

Urban Dictionary is a popular way to search for that “hip lingo” you hear from your teenagers or just for a good laugh. If you currently use the website, then you will be glad to know there are extensions for both Firefox and Chrome, although they work differently.

For Firefox, there are two different options. The first extension will be placed in your search engine list. So, when you pop a word into your search bar, just click the icon to drop down your list of options and select Urban Dictionary. You will then be taken to the website where you can see the word’s definition and share it if you like.

The second option for Firefox is called Urban Dictionary Tooltip. With this extension, you just highlight the word on the webpage and then use the context menu to search Urban Dictionary. The definition will then be displayed in a pop-up window along with the sharing options.

In Chrome, the extension is a little handier than both of these with a simple icon in your toolbar. Just click it and enter your word to see a pop-up definition without leaving your current page. For other browsers, you can also try the Urban Dictionary bookmarklet.

Which Dictionary Extension Do You Use?

For quick word definitions, these extensions work well. But, is there a specific extension for the browser you use that you cannot live without that is not on this list? Or, do you prefer to head over to a website for a larger amount of information?

Maybe still, you have a paper dictionary that you always stick with. Whatever your method or tool, feel free to share it in the comments below.

Image Credit: Zelenskaya via Shutterstock.com

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7 Search Engines That Rocked Before Google Even Existed | Dramel Notes

Though the Web became publicly available in 1990, the first web search engine didn’t arrive until 1993. Up until then, all websites were manually tracked and indexed by people.

And while we now recognize Google as the king of web search, Google wasn’t even in the game until 1998. During that five-year gap, twenty other search engines had their chance at glory, and most of them failed. You might even remember some of them.

WebCrawler (1994). Of all still-surviving search engines, WebCrawler is the oldest. Today, it aggregates results from Google and Yahoo.

Lycos (1994). Born out of Carnegie Mellon University and still alive today. Also owns several other nostalgic Internet brands, including Angelfire, Tripod, and Gamesville.

AltaVista (1995). This was one of the most popular search engines in the 1990s, but was acquired by Yahoo in 2003 and subsequently shut down in 2013.

Excite (1995). One of the most recognizable brands back in the 1990s, but has since fallen out of the spotlight.

Yahoo (1995). Definitely one of the strongest pre-Google brands to still exihttp://www.makeuseof.com/tag/5-advanced-search-engines-web/st today. In fact, according to Alexa, Yahoo was the 4th most globally-visited website in June 2015. Impressive!

Dogpile (1996). It has a terrible brand name, but maybe that’s what made it memorable. Today, Dogpile aggregates results from Google, Yahoo, and the Russian search engine, Yandex (which is also older than Google!).

Ask Jeeves (1996). This engine was unique due to its question-and-answer format, plus it had a memorable mascot in Jeeves the Butler. Sadly, Jeeves was eventually phased out and the site rebranded to Ask.com. (Not to be confused with AskBoth.)

How many of these do you remember? Which one was your favorite? Do you still use any of these? Tell us in the comments below!

Image Credit: Search Query by isak55 via Shutterstock

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5 More Free History Education Resources You’ll Love Exploring | Dramel Notes

Humans are just so fascinating, which is why history just might be the most engrossing topic to learn about. Whether you’re a student or just someone who wants to learn, here are five websites that look at different parts of history in unique ways.

I outlined some history education resources earlier this year, and you all seemed to like it, so I’m back at it again today. These sites are all different, but they all offer ways to look at the past and learn something.

Old Maps Online: See How Any Place Used to Look

Have you ever wanted to trace the history of your house, or even your neighborhood? It’s easy to think of history as something that’s about important men in faraway places, but history is happening everywhere – even your own neighborhood. Old Maps Online brings this idea alive, by letting you see old maps from any area on earth. Just type a city or location, then start exploring maps from other decades.

I recently moved to Oregon’s Silicon Forest, an area that’s seen massive construction since Intel set up shop. Using Old Maps Online, I can check out just how fast this has all been: as recently as 1990 my densely populated neighborhood was a forest and a field, no houses in sight.

Kind of crazy to think about, and I’m sure you can find all sorts of patterns looking at your own home.

Histography: Interactive Timeline Based on Wikipedia

Too many history classes focus on memorizing dates instead of culture and context, but that doesn’t mean knowing when things happened into relation to each other isn’t interesting. Histography is a fascinating way to put things in context: this interactive timeline lets you explore history as a series of Wikipedia articles.

Ever dot represents an article on the online encyclopedia that refers to an event. Everything is arranged in order, so you can learn when things happened in context. Dive in and see what you can find, okay? Report your findings in the comments below.

Music Timeline: Explore The History of Music

So far as we know, humans have pretty much always made music, but things really got interesting in the last 60 years or so. Recorded music spawned global genres of music, which in turn spawned sub-genres. Music Timeline is an attempt to map all of this out through history.

You’ll see when particular genres were most popular, along with key albums that came along the way. Click any genre and you’ll be taken to another timeline, outlining the rise and fall of sub-genres. It’s a fascinating look at modern music history, so dive in.

Career Of Founders: Compare The Lives of Entrepreneurs

How much can you really accomplish in your life? It all depends on your relationship with time, really, but if you need some inspiration to get going I recommend checking out the Career Of Founders. It’s an interactive infographic that shows you milestones in the lives of people like Steve Jobs, Colonel Sanders, Bill Gates, and many more.

You’ll see how old these people were at pivotal moments in their lives. There’s a lot of diversity here: some people start early and keep building, but others don’t have a lot of success until relatively late in life It just goes to show that it’s never too early, or too late, to try something new.

Spurious Correlations: Randomly Generated Charts That Mean Nothing

One way of learning from history is through statistics, but to do this well you need to know a thing or two about statistics. With this in mind, we end with a site that teaches a valuable lesson: just because two things look related on a chart doesn’t mean they have anything to do with each other. Spurious Correlations is a collection of such charts

Just because two things line up on a chart doesn’t mean they’re connected – it could be just a coincidence. This is what’s meant when people say “correlation is not causation”, and the lesson is easier to learn after browsing this site for a while. Unless, of course, you sincerely believe that Nicolas Cage movies are causing people to drown in pools. If that’s the case, I’m not sure what to say.

What Will You Learn About History?

The world’s a big place, and there’s a lot to explore out there. I want to know which sites have taught you a thing or two about history, so please recommend any such sites in the comments below. While you’re at it, feel free to point out any highlights from the above sites – I always love to learn.

We’ve dug into history resources before, of course, from teaching history CSI style to engrossing history sites. But learning more is always good, so let’s keep the conversation going.

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