Author: nchenga

  • Beyeler by Renzo Piano

    Photos of the Beyeler Museum in Riehen, Basel-Stadt.

    renzo piano: beyeler in riehen
    Beyeler in Riehen
    favourite spot
    My favourite place
    renzo piano's beyeler museum
    Poppies
    Fondation Beyeler - building by Renzo Piano
    Detail
    fondation beyeler by renzo piano
    Love this transition
    Renzo Piano building in Riehen, Basel
    At night
    flowers in front of Fondation Beyeler
    More poppies
    beyeler2
    Another external view
    fondation beyeler by renzo piano
    Walkway thru the park
    split rocker @ beyeler museum
    Beyeler: worth a visit
  • Jog log

    Dear blog,

    I am happy to report that I went running on 5 out of 7 days this past week.

    The plan is to replace my daily outdoor swim with a slow jog.

    Today I did the 2 hills tour. Starting at Bettingerstrasse, running along the Wiese river, via Sonnenhalde and Wenkenpark. More than 6 km long.

    I will try to do the same again this week.

    My goal at the moment is to run easy.

    IMG_20201003_150629
    Run easy
  • “The boring flower snapshot” returns

    The boring flower snapshot is still going strong.

    flower power
    This week’s submission for the most boring flower snapshot

    I cycled past a field of flowers this week and stopped to take some snaps. The light was beautiful. Taken with my smartphone… As they say, the best camera is the one that is with you.

    sunrays and flowers
    Sunrays and flowers

    View my album “The boring flower snapshot” on Flickr.

  • Social Objects and how they help me to connect

    In a recent offline conversation, I dropped a comment:

    That’s my common social object with so-and-so.

    Me in an informal conversation

    I realized how much this old blog post from the beginnings of blogging has influenced me.

    My observation: If I find a common social object, it helps me re-connect. If I find a common topic, sport, technology, political view, geographic place, hobby, shared past experiences, the depth of interactions changes.

    Sounds obvious.

    As 2020 has changed many social interactions, routines, and aspects. I am curious to see what will return and in which way.

    2020 is a catalyst for changes that started happening already.

    inner courtyard

    I am curious how work will evolve. Language change is an indicator of societal change. I attended a meeting on Friday where one participant said to another:

    I Slack-ed you.

    ironically on a Teams call

    The tools may change. But, the trajectory will probably remain the same.

    Note to myself: My blogger skills are very useful.

    roses
    Photography is a social object
  • Keyword research in 2020: a brief answer

    Keyword research in 2020: a brief answer

    I received this question recently:

    If I create content for our company (articles for magazines, social media posts, etc), do I need to try to use KEYWORDS within the text as much as possible? And if yes, is there an online tool / website to check how well I did my job before I publish it?

    Here’s my answer:

    • Brainstorm and research as much as you can about your topic.
    • Ask your sales managers how they describe the service when they talk to people on the phone; write down all the phrases they mention.
    • Jot down all the phrases and questions you think people will enter into a search engine for your topic.
    • Check the monthly search volume of your phrases using a tool such as SEMRush or Searchmetrics or Ahrefs. Or use free SEO research tools.
    • Check search intent by entering the keyphrase into Google. Analyze the results you see:
      • Are you seeing some of your competitors? That’s good. You are in the right space.
      • Are you seeing dictionary or encyclopedia or university links? That’s not good, if you are a commercial company.
      • Look at the Google results and try to understand the search intent.
    • Map out the structure and SEO elements of your article.
      • Outline the topic you want to target.
      • Write a draft meta page title and meta description.
      • Write a draft Heading 1 (H1).
      • List out the questions you want to answer in your article.
        • Questions are typically Heading 2s (H2).
        • Answers are a paragraph or a bullet list.
      • List out the keyphrases you want to target in the body text.
      • List articles that you want to use as inspiration for your SEO writing process.
        • Avoid copy and paste. Google is not dumb and can find out if you copy and pasted from another site.
      • Review SEO research before starting to write.
      • Start SEO copywriting process and include all SEO elements.
        • Include main keyphrase in your meta title tag, meta description, H1, add complementary keyphrases in H2s and body of the text, add alt texts for your images.
    • There are several tools that you can use to check the keyword distribution and density in your article. I’ve used Ryte.com, Moz, and there’s a new AI tool called MarketMuse that I am testing.
    • Important: Write for humans. Make the article useful. Think about the phrases people will use to find this article.
    • Track traffic and keyphrases in a tool like SEMRush or SearchMetrics or Ahrefs or Ryte.com or similar. There’s quite a choice.

    Hope you find this list useful.

    think make check
    Continuous Improvement
  • Baking Banana Bread

    3 mushy bananas means… It’s time for Banana Bread.

    Today’s variation:

    • I used whole wheat flour
    • I added 150 grams of plain joghurt
    • I added lots of walnuts (omega 3 for the win)
    • I added nutmeg, kambuzi sauce, and vanilla sugar for taste

    It’s in the oven, baking at a low heat.

  • Giulia Super

    giulia super

    What a beautiful vintage car. I saw this snapshot in my Flickr archive. From 2008, taken in Hannover with my Canon 40D.

    I like this Alfa Romeo.

    Find out more in this Wikipedia article.

  • When you have over 20 thousand photos on Flickr…

    I’ve been on Flickr for over a decade.

    And I have over 20 thousand photos.

    Imagine.

    I didn’t think this is possible.

    Memories. Snapshots. Visual notes.

    The primary beneficiary is… me.

    I love browsing thru my photos.

    I love seeing old snapshots emerge in the Flickr stats or in old links or chats.

    I realize Flickr might be dying. I hope not. I hope the new owners find a sustainable business model soon. And ways to innovate.

    sunset thru the curtain
  • Cyclists, beware of tram tracks. Dangerous spot on Elisabethenstrasse in Basel

    I witnessed a motorbike crash this morning while cycling to work.

    I was cycling up Elisabethenstrasse when I heard a loud crash.

    A motorbiker had crashed on the other side of the street. At a place where the tram tracks and street don’t leave much space for cyclists and motorbikes.

    At exactly the same spot which I’ve previously identified as being dangerous.

    Not so long ago, the pavement at the tram stop was increased in height so that now the tram doors open at pavement level.

    This means the curb is much higher and steeper.

    At the same time, the space between curb and tram track is narrower than before and after the tram stop.

    Which means on rainy days, you can easily slip on the wet and slippery tram tracks.

    Dangerous.

    I usually move to the middle of the tracks, away from the curb.

    I think I will cycle a different route. Especially on rainy days.

    Life is precious. Cycle safely.

    As you can tell i am shocked.

  • Content distribution strategies on my mind

    Brian Dean’s recent study confirmed what many Digital Marketing folks know intuitively.

    (…) Brian Dean recently found that 94% of all content generates zero backlinks. And just 1.3% of articles gobble up 75% of all social shares.

    Source: Brafton

    It’s 2020 and we’ve have been pumping out content for many years.

    Algorithms influence distribution.

    How do you earn backlinks for your content?

    As shown in the above article, the cost of content creation is increasing.

    Distribution strategies matter.

    schienen
    Train tracks

    I liked this tweet:

    Well, maybe not Medium… Their technical SEO is broken. I personally think WordPress is still a good option.

    The tweet conveys the importance. You need to increase visibility. You must find ways to connect.

    Where's the zoo?
    Bus and tram network

    Consider distribution strategies early, ideally when you are planning and creating the content:

    • What keyphrases and questions will help this article to rank well in the SERPs?
    • Did you look closely at the search intent?
    • Always share the link on your social media properties (Organic Social).
    • Can you spend some money on Paid Search and Paid Social to promote the content to your target audience?
    • Can you add a podcast on the topic?
    • Are you planning a video?
    • Maybe, you could offer a webinar and share the slides and the recording?
    • Brainstorm for ideas: How can you earn backlinks on high-quality sites?
    • Build a simple newsletter and share new content with subscribers at regular intervals.
    • Consider contacting journalists and getting relevant publications to write about you.
    • Inform your sales team of new content. Encourage them to send out direct links to relevant content.
    sbb train station
    Velo courier at Basel’s main train station
  • A weekend in Göteborg

    Some snapshots and memories in this Flickr album.

    lion
    La sfida commincia
    cake
    if you share, there are no calories
    street art in Göteborg
    Street art
    lamp shade
    Patterns
    göteborg
    pippi longstocking
    If you are strong, be kind
  • Zucchero

    zucchero

    A snapshot from my archives on Flickr.

  • Where are you going?

    Saw this chalk message on the pavement this week near Basel SBB train station. Where is your life going?

    wo geht dein Leben hin?
  • Photowalk

    I went photo-walking with the Basel Photography Meetup on Saturday. The theme was #Openings.

    #opening

    On my way into town, I saw this yellow monster. Nothing open about it. And very noisy.

    loud machinery

    I like this snapshot of openings within a gate:

    #opening

    This snapshot of some openings in this construction site scaffolding fits my likeable criteria equally well:

    #opening

    An enjoyable photo-walk thru Basel.

    water fountain
  • I attended Medien-Barcamp 2019 – my notes and comments – #medienbc

    Yesterday, I set my alarm to 6 am and jumped on the 7:33 train to Zürich-Oerlikon. On a Saturday. To attend a barcamp on media.

    If you are unfamiliar with the concept of barcamps, a barcamp is a conference that organizes the talks by itself, on the day, Someone provides some rooms and infrastructure such as wifi and screens. And they send out invites via Twitter and other social media channels.

    And that’s how i found my way to #medienbc, the event’s hashtag.

    In yesterday’s case, the Medien-Barcamp organizers had access to the rooms of SRF, the Swiss public radio and TV station, in Zürich.

    It’s not my first barcamp. I’ve attended many and even presented topics at some. Yesterday I was in listening mode.

    #medienbc Medien-Barcamp 2019

    Here’s a brief recap of the talks that I attended:

    First, I attended a talk by Markus on Voice User Interfaces. He provided an excellent intro to the rise of voice. He says many new jobs are being created in this space. And I made a mental note to look up SSML.

    Fabian and David invited us to discuss how to get more “old” people engaged on social media. The discussion covered a lot of ground:

    • The decline in journalistic quality,
    • The change in speed,
    • The fact that today journalists have access to less proofreading, fact checking and editorial staff than ever,
    • Questions like do users want to see and interact with company content on Facebook (apparently yes, 1 attendee described how a Facebook ad influenced her decision to buy).

    Next, I listened to Vincenzo talk about the challenges and learnings of setting up an email newsletter for a small regional newspaper. A very honest and useful talk. His newspaper uses a tool called Revue, by a Dutch startup, cos it’s even simpler than Mailchimp.

    #medienbc Medien-Barcamp 2019

    I peeked into the session on no-budget video production. I would like to learn more about this.

    #medienbc Medien-Barcamp 2019

    I listened to a talk on analytics. Not new for me, but I was curious to see SimilarWeb. It looks a lot like SEMRush.

    We looked at the stats for Nau.ch that had just announced it is now making a profit. The stats showed Nau.ch is investing in organic search. Markus recommended that journalists do keyword research for their articles. I would think that is obvious by now.

    #medienbc Medien-Barcamp 2019

    In the last session of the day, I got valuable advice on how to prepare to speak in front of audience or take part in an interview. In my own words:

    • Stand firmly. Before you start presenting, assure yourself that you are standing firmly on the ground and that it will not disappear beneath you.
    • Find ways to relax and stand in an open, welcoming position, e.g. take deep breaths of air, yawn, make funny faces, turn into a loud and noisy monster shortly before your gig.
    • Remind yourself that you are valuable, e.g. imagine you were given a really expensive diamond worth more than 100 thousand CHF and walk thru the busy train station in Bern.
    • Prepare and know the content of your presentation. If you know your topic well, you will be persuasive.
    • It’s about your attitude and posture.
    #medienbc Medien-Barcamp 2019

    Thank you to the organisers and participants for an enjoyable and fulfilling event. Good food, awesome location, great speakers. I like barcamp sessions cos we can leave out the sales speak and dig deeper. I feel excited and encouraged.

    #medienbc Medien-Barcamp 2019
    #medienbc Medien-Barcamp 2019
  • “The boring flower snapshot” lives on

    I noticed that searching for the phrase “the boring flower snapshot” still leads to some of my flower snaps on Google and Duck Duck Go.

    Added some new snaps to my collection. So boring.

    flower power
    flower power
    flower power

    I think this is a great example how using links and relevant anchor texts consistently can help you rank for a specific phrase.

  • Summer of 2019

    There are so many beautiful poppies this year. I captured some impressions on Flickr. It must be the additional rain that causes poppies to bloom. The field next to Fondation Beyeler is red with flowers.

    poppies in the wind
    stream
  • Bicycle tour

    I took part in a bicycle tour of public spaces and buildings in Basel. A highlight.

  • La domenica sportiva

    I went for a long slow run today. Along the Wiese river. Up to Bettingen. Via my favourite sawdust track (aka Finnenbahn) at Ausserberg. And, ending my run at the Kneipp facility in Riehen.

    Feeling positive and blessed.

    water catchment area of basel
    Dieser Weg
  • Stacked

    Took this snap of a stack of newspapers some time ago. I like the pattern.

    stacked
    a fave of mine: stacks of newspapers
  • Tulip time

    tulip bubble
    tulip bubble chez moi
    while i was away the tulips started flowering #gardening 2019

    Planted several tulip bulbs last autumn. Reminds me of the tulip bubble.

    At the peak of tulip mania, in February 1637, some single tulip bulbs sold for more than 10 times the annual income of a skilled craftsworker.

    Tulip Mania
    tulip mania
  • A postcard from Basel

    basel münster as seen from wettstein-brücke

    I took this snapshot last week. A postcard view of the Münster in Basel.