Keyword Competitor is a very unique SEO tool.  I was contacted by Alexandra from Keywordcompetitor.com and asked to take a look at their website and software package. 

In the spirit of education and the mission of  TheTeachingBox I agreed to take a look and do a review.  I will approach this review by first looking at the website and then using the software through the free trial that Keywordcompetitor offers.

As a webmaster I am a part time student of Search Engine Optimization (see my blog PagerankToday where I study these concepts).  Initially I was not too excited about another tool that will help me with SEO because there are lots of them out there.  As I studied the Keywordcompetitor website I found out that this software is different.   First of all this software package performs Real time Keyword Research.   Second it allows you to Research AND monitor.  Third it produces detailed reports that you can download and study. 

The website provides informative videos that allowed me to understand exactly what this product is, and how it is different from traditional offerings.

The website is very professional looking and easy to use.  The Video Tutorials are well done, and they use a great flash based tool to present them to the user.  There is also an informative FAQ that answers basic questions.  I signed up for a free trial and within minutes was using the software. 

The first thing to say is this is a well designed Web 2.0 tool.  It runs totally within a web browser so you do not need to download anything to your local computer.  This allows you to access the software from anywhere.  Buttons allow the user to download data, and even e-mail it to an address.  The software works flawlessly within a Firefox browser, and I would guess IE as well.  I will have to test it on my Mac when there is time.  As I said earlier, this is True Web 2.0 software.  

I set up some searches and worked with the email and export buttons.  Everything is fully functional.  TheTeachingBox is a website that doesn't make any money, and I really haven't researched my competition, nevertheless  I am interested in getting more traffic to my Blog and this tool can help. 

The trial lets you monitor 1 domain and 2 keywords.  This is enough to allow you to use the tool understand its functionality.  One interesting aspect is the ability to research paid keywords.  This ability will help you understand what keywords are considered valuable enough for people to pay for.   The monitoring capability is useful.  The software will e-mail you daily reports on how your research is progressing.

I will continue to play with Keyword Competitor in order to understand more about how it works.  This is an in depth software package that has lots of potential for SEO research.  Until I report back, I encourage you to visit the site, give the trial a run and let me know what you think about this tool!

- Loren

iDevBooks is a great site that has some unique educational tools.  These tools are in the form of Apps for your iPhone.

Esa Helttula contacted me through Twitter about reviewing these useful educational tools.  In the spirit of Education and Technology it is very fitting for TheTeachingBox to give Esa a quick review and send you back to his web site to check out these Cool Apps.

The best way to introduce Esa and his site is to use his own description:

This site is about my Math Apps for iPhone. It all started when I was looking for a Column Addition app for my daughter. I was surprised to find out that there were no apps that teach the basics like column addition, column subtraction, long division and long multiplication. I had experience about designing visualizing algorithms for computer science students. I decided to use that knowledge to make great teaching and learning apps for children and everybody who wants to study math. You will find my apps by choosing the my apps -link.

The apps are quite unique.  There is a total collection of 10 apps covering such topics as:

• Long Division
• Long Multiplication
• Column Addition
• Column Subtraction

Esa is easily accessible through email or you can follow him on Twitter.  Stop by his page and give the iPhone Math Apps a try.  You will not be disappointed.

-Loren

Everyone likes to know statistics about their website.  Here is the way to learn the Google Pagerank and tons of other information, not just about your own site, but any one you choose.

I have purchased and installed a program on my companion website PageRankToday called RankChecker. 

RankChecker is a great program written as a php script and is easily installed on a webserver.  It is hosted on a site called GetRank.org.  You can get to the website by clicking on the picture to the right.  The author has a great demo of the front page as well as the administrative area. 

This script gives a tremendous amount of information about any website you wish to explore.  Straight from the website, here are the tools and information it displays.

TOOLS:

• Domain Age
• Google Pagerank
• Alexa Rank
• Google Backlinks
• Yahoo Backlinks
• Alexa Backlinks
• Altavista Backlinks
• AllTheWeb Backlinks
• DMOZ Directory
• Yahoo Directory
• Google Indexed Pages
• Yahoo Indexed Pages
• Bing Indexed Pages
• ASK Indexed Pages
• Digg Links
• Delicious Links
• Google Bot Last Visit
• Site Value
• Pagerank Button

I am looking forward to having RankChecker as part of my SEO toolkit.  I have made it available on PageRankToday as one of my SEO Tools, but I would encourage you to purchase a copy for yourself if you would like to host it on your site.  The $10 cost is minimal. 

If you aren't really sure, there is a free version that doesn't have all of the features, but would give a good "test drive".  You can access the free version from the GetRank.org main page, or just click -> HERE.

I have only good things to say about this script and its author.  There were a couple of small issues with the script running on my hosting server, but they were quickly fixed.  I would rate the Script and Support outstanding.  

RankChecker is a great way to learn many details about any website, not just your own.

Enjoy!

-Loren

My Friend Katherine has a great Blog called

Due to popular demand I have re-posted this article.  Note the new download location.

If you run a website or blog you need to have a basic understanding of PHP and SQL.  This free ebook is required reading for you.

No I don't think you need to be a programmer writing applications.  You just need general information about how PHP works and the syntax of the language.  This information is extremely important if you run WordPress as your platform, as wordpress is a PHP based platform.

The author doesn't really HATE PHP as you will quickly find out as you read through this book.  I would consider it on par with the Dummies Guide on PHP and SQL.

I ran across this ebook a while back and want to share it with others.  It is available for free download at the Library.

I am keeping track of the number of downloads through my eStore Application.  It is free, just enter your e-mail and you will be sent a link to download the file.  (you must give a legit email address, this keeps down the spam and leechers)  This ebook is in .pdf format and is about 50 pages in length.  Let me know what you think about this book!  If you have any difficulties, just send me an email and I can get the book to you another way.  Give it a read and let me know what you think!

Another educational offering by TheTeachingBox.com

-Loren  

Download the Book HERE or click on the Graphic above.