So, as it turned out, three days ago I received a question, submitted to me via my page on FormSpring.me. Cole Roberts, a very talented Vancouver photographer with whom I had the pleasure of working while at Magnify Digital, did the honours as the first “human” (meaning, not FormSpring’s own robot) visitor to ask me a question. Below is a copy, and my answer:

Q: How can I get my blog to be #1 on Google search for ‘Vancouver Photo Blog’ : )

A: Hello, Cole – great to see you here, and thanks for being my first (human) visitor to pose a question.

So… how do you get your blog to be #1 on Google search for “Vancouver Photo Blog”?

As you know, this is not an SEO question that can be answered in a short paragraph, but let’s see what I can do to at least help you know a tad more today, than you did… say… 5 minutes ago.

First, the bad news: it looks as though you have your work cut out for you. A quick search on Google.ca shows that there are 17,300,000 search listings for that same term.

The good news: I’ve been following what you’ve been doing on your blog, and you’re on the right track. That contest you ran last year (http://ow.ly/Ywj3), which had the final draw broadcast on video, is an example of content that you can continue to do, to differentiate yourself from your competitors. One idea would be for you to keep on creating engaging, educational, informative, unique content on video, and post it to YouTube. According to data from October ‘08 (eons ago), YouTube, at that time, had more than 65 million unique users.

It also happens that videos are displayed among search results on Google. So… if you continue to develop catchy videos, and optimize them for terms like “Vancouver Photo Blog”, etc, there’s a higher likelihood that your videos will turn up on search results for those same phrases.

That’s just one element you can implement. Another one, which is critical, is the development of optimized text content for your site, focusing on “Vancouver Photo Blog”. Don’t overdo on the Title Tags, though. I’ve seen some pages where you’re just trying too hard.

Now, when it comes to text, you want to be careful. You don’t want to spam the text in your site with “Vancouver Photo Blog” written a thousand times, in sequence. There’s an art to this. Carefully chosen keywords, in carefully chosen places on a page, are part of the answer.

Now, last but not least… the easiest way for you to rank #1 on Google search, for “Vancouver Photo Blog”, is to… invest in PPC ads (AdWords). That’ll be quicker and easier, but the effects to your search ranking won’t be perennial…

Hey… you didn’t say if it had to be #1 in organic (unsponsored) results! : )

And when I happen to need photos made, you’ll be top of mind!

Would you like to ask me a question? Go right to my page on FormSpring.me and shoot it. Just to get your imagination going:

Q: “What’s your favourite city?” A: Berlin

Q: “Who was your favourite actor growing up”? A: James Dean

Q: “What is your biggest phobia?” A: Cockroaches. I can scare a bear away from my yard (which I’ve done while living in Whistler), but would run out of the house at the sight of a roach.

LeWeb is taking place as we speak, and they have opened up many of their presentations to UStream. Today is the last day of the conference, and it’s been definitely worth staying up to watch some of it (remember – they’re in Central European Time).

For your viewing pleasure, here’s the embedded video stream. Obviously, this will not be up and running after the conference is finished.

So far, I’ve watched a roundtable discussion with Twitter, Facebook, Ning and MySpace, led by TechCrunch, a presentation by Twitter, a very funny presentation spoof by Yossi Vardi. And, right at this very moment, a presentation by Danah Boyd.

If you’re not familiar with UStream, it’s a great channel that allows you to stream live video while also enabling chat next to the video player. If you’re planning on live-streaming a conference or special event, it’s definitely a channel to consider.

One of the appealing things that LeWeb is doing is broadcasting many of its mainstage discussions. Some people may argue that a conference such as this should not be open through live streaming, and that if you want to catch any of the action, you should pony up and pay for it. My take on this is that, if the content is good enough (which it’s been, in this case), people will watch the live online videos, and the content will serve as a magnet to:

• Raise awareness of the conference
• Through the numbers of recorded viewers, help prove to future sponsors that it’s worth for them to invest in the event

Some of the things that they’re doing right is integrating Facebook and Twitter stream on their homepage. For many, this may seem like an obvious thing to do, but it’s great to see that they haven’t forgotten about something so fundamental.

It’d be even better if their UStream video was available through their Facebook Page.

Another thing I’d to contemplate, if I were LeWeb, would be capturing people’s email address before they can view some (or all) of the live-streaming content. Then, I’d send updates on future conferences to those who have provided their emails. I know I’d consider this… an Internet conference in PARIS? Count me in! I’d work it into my vacation!

Video clips at Ustream