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Artist Olivia Mears has created an incredible Pizza Dress that swirls around her when she turns and becomes a full pizza when she sits down…(Read…)
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A Pizza Stuffed Inside a Burger That is Inside a Pizza..(Read…)
If you’re not getting a ton of hits on your website, you may need to step up your search engine optimization (SEO) game. No game? No problem. An SEO specialist can help.
These keyword kings can generate more traffic than downtown rush hour. Read on to find out more about the job and what it takes to get the job done.
What exactly does an SEO specialist do?
A search engine optimization (SEO) specialist improves website rankings on major search engines, such as Google, Yahoo! and Bing.
The specialist ensures on-page optimization to produce relevant search results and a positive user experience, growing site traffic, lead volume and brand awareness.
“The primary purpose of an SEO specialist is the same as any marketer: Create more sales for the company,” says Brett Bastello, SEO manager at Inseev Interactive, a digital marketing agency in San Diego.
By employing smart on-page tactics—keywords tag, internal linking, clean URLs, etc.—“an SEO specialist is able to increase the website’s visibility within the search engines, which ultimately results in increased traffic and more sales.”
Other duties include implementing and maintaining title and meta tags, URL redirects and 404 errors; analyzing competitors’ web presence; monitoring Google Search Console and similar webmaster tools; identifying link-building opportunities; and negotiating contracts with agencies and vendors.
Some also work closely with members of marketing and creative teams to develop new initiatives and update or manage social media accounts to increase user engagement.
SEO is an integral part of search engine marketing (SEM). Knowledge of SEM is essential to SEO specialists of course, but it’s also beneficial to anyone from marketers to freelance writers.
What skills does an SEO specialist need?
Communication skills are everything. If a client hires you to grow his site, you have to be able to articulate the best course of action and explain why it’s best for him.
“They have to conceptualize what you’re doing so they can own it and feel confident that you’re making wise decisions for their company,” offers Chris Horton, head consultant at Dr. Rankwell, an SEO consultancy based in Lawrenceville, Ga.
Assessing risks—“knowing the difference between changes that can greatly damage a website’s progress and changes that can move the needle forward”—and forecasting trends and how they’ll affect future traffic are also important, Horton says.
You’ll need to know Google Analytics (or another web analytics tool), of course, as well as SEO tools such as SEMrush and Moz.
Who is an SEO specialist’s supervisor?
It depends on the company and its structure. As the owner and head consultant, Horton reports directly to his clients. Others may report to an SEO or marketing director.
Are there any jobs similar to this one?
Nope, says Horton. “It is a very specific skill set that requires a lot of detailed focus.”
“This job is really soup to nuts,” adds Bastello. “Oftentimes when I’m trying to explain my job to others, I just say ‘digital PR.’”
How can someone break into this field?
A degree in marketing is helpful, but because SEO is so specific, there aren’t a lot of college classes that’ll give you the skills you need, explains Horton. He recommends studying the abundance of material available online.
To get started, try Google’s or Bing’s online certifications or community resources and industry keynotes at sites like QuickSprout and AHrefs.
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The post What Does an SEO Specialist Do? appeared first on Mediabistro.
Jimmy Fallon demos amazing new robots from all over the world, including an eerily human robot named Sophia that plays rock-paper-scissors…(Read…)
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Chinese-American architect IM Pei turns 100 today. To celebrate, we’ve selected 10 of his most iconic buildings from a career that spans seven decades.
Ieoh Ming Pei was born on 26 April 1917 in Guangzhou, China. He moved to the US to study architecture at the University of Pennsylvania, then engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and finally Harvard‘s Graduate School of Design – where he studied under former Bauhaus masters Walter Gropius and Marcel Breuer.
After a stint working for the US National Defense Research Committee towards the end of the second world war, Pei began his architectural career, and worked for American real-estate magnate William Zeckendorf from 1948.
He went on to open his own New York-based architecture firm in 1955, which had several name changes before becoming Pei Cobb Freed & Partners in 1989. The architect retired from full-time practice a year later, but even now continues to consult on projects.
Accolades Pei has received over the years include the AIA Gold Medal in 1979, the Pritzker Prize in 1983, first Praemium Imperiale for Architecture in 1989, and the RIBA’s Royal Gold Medal for architecture in 2010.
His architecture is identifiable through its strict geometries – combinations of circles, squares and triangles that manifest in both two and three dimensions in plan, section and elevation.
The firm’s oeuvre ranges from a curving brick chapel to soaring glass-sheathed skyscrapers, and includes museums, libraries and civic centres in locations across the globe. Here are 10 projects we believe are among his most important:
Le Grand Louvre, Paris, France, 1989
Perhaps one of the most recognisable structures in the world, Pei’s addition to the Musée du Louvre in Paris was highly controversial with both the museum’s leadership and the public when it was first proposed.
The glass and steel pyramids were created as part of an extensive overhaul of the historic former palace, and were designed for the complex’s central courtyard to allow light into a new subterranean concourse.
Bank of China Tower, Hong Kong, China, 1990
This 367.5-metre skyscraper is arguably the most striking on the Hong Kong skyline.
Its seemingly complex geometry is formed by the inward-facing triangular quadrants of the building’s square plan, which are removed one by one as its height increases. An angled triangle caps each quarter, and the same shape forms a tessellated pattern up the tower’s glass curtain walls.
Suzhou Museum, Suzhou, China, 2006
Pei’s new building for the museum of Chinese art and craft was influenced by the vernacular structures in the ancient city.
Black-outlined white volumes that borrow from the traditional houses are juxtaposed against sections of angular glass roof, all reflected in the large pond of the garden they surround.
Museum of Islamic Art, Doha, Qatar, 2008
Pei used rigorous geometries found in traditional Islamic patterns to create the form of this museum, which staggers to rise around a five-storey tower above a central atrium.
Located on an artificial island in the Arabian Gulf, the building is constructed from light limestone blocks that softly reflect the desert sun. A glass curtain wall on the north side offers panoramic views of the Gulf and West Bay area of Doha from all five floors of gallery space.
Dallas City Hall, Dallas, USA, 1978
An inverted triangular section was chosen for Dallas City Hall because the lower civic spaces needed less floor area than the government offices above.
The concrete building’s angled sides are interrupted by monumental vertical fins, which reach the full seven-storey height and help to support their weight.
Luce Memorial Chapel, Taichung, Taiwan, 1963
One of Pei’s more modest buildings in scale, this Christian chapel sits on the campus of Tunghai University – which the architect also masterplanned.
On each side, curving brick walls rise meet at a slither of glass that runs along the top of the structure and continues down behind the alter. Inside, the walls are covered in a lattice of criss-crossing concrete, chosen over wood to better combat humidity and seismic activity.
Miho Museum, Kyoto, Japan, 1997
This museum in the mountains outside Kyoto is reached along a tube-shaped tunnel, a walkway bridge and steps up its sloping site – set to host a Louis Vuitton catwalk show later this year.
A roof of faceted translucent triangles, designed to evoke traditional Japanese architecture, folds over the complex and allow tempered light into its limestone-lined galleries.
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Cleveland, USA, 1995
The best-known musical artists and influential figures that shaped the history of rock music are celebrated at this museum on the shore of Lake Erie. Pei’s aim was to capture the “energy” of the movement in the architecture.
Two huge triangular glass surfaces are propped up by a 530-foot-tall (162-metre) tower, creating more than 55,000 square feet of exhibition space, as well as administrative offices, a shop and a cafe.
Kennedy Library, Boston, USA, 1979
Built to commemorate the 35th president of the United States, John F Kennedy, the library and museum contains papers and materials from his time in office, and exhibits about his life.
Pei was chosen as the architect by the family after Kennedy was assassinated in 1963, but the project faced years of setbacks and a change of location before completing 16 years later.
The resulting building sits on the Boston waterfront – an austere block intersected at an angle by a glass atrium, with lower portions surrounding the main volumes.
National Gallery of Art East Building, Washington DC, USA, 1978
This addition to the American National Gallery of Art sits beside the institution’s original neoclassical home, but is markedly different in form. Its plan comprises a larger isosceles and smaller right-angled triangle, subsequently creating triangular and diamond-shaped spaces inside.
The corners of the stone-clad main building rise higher than its centre, producing the effect of abstract turrets. A glass roof, also formed from triangular panels, covers the central atrium that also connects the building’s two sides.
The post IM Pei at 100: 10 of the architect’s most significant buildings appeared first on Dezeen.
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