About 1918

Hi. I’m Phil.

I never set out to be a web guy, I was a history major in college, but once I started with web technologies, I really liked them.

I fell into doing web development while working as a database “temp” for Varian in Gloucester, Massachusetts.

I have been doing web development since 1998, and was happy writing code. Then one day when I started reading about SEO, and a light went on in my head.

Something that once seemed like black magic started to click. The idea that if people can’t find your site, it doesn’t matter how cool it is made perfect sense. I read more, which lead me to ask more questions, which made me research even more.

The more I learned and talked to others in the SEO field, the more I became convinced that this was going to be a big part of my future.

I soon realized just how much misinformation is out there, especially in the heads of people who are commonly referred to as “bosses”, “directors” and “executives”. I’ve talked to people who have a small amount of search knowledge, but it’s outdated. They are dangerous. The search engines are always tweaking, so by holding on to what you knew was the truth in 1999, you’re not helping.

Then in the last few years along came the next big think to hit search…

If you still don’t “get” Twitter, we should talk. Social Networking, Social Media, Community Building – all those current buzz words are buzzing because they are driving traffic and sales more than ever before. The social space allows people to connect with their community in a way that helps both the consumer and the company.

I’ll use this blog to try to make web design, development, and SEO/SEM as simple as I can. There is a lot of basic tasks any site owner can do on their own to get started, but if you don’t have time, or you stop making progress, that’s when it’s time to call for help.

If you wondering, “why 1918, what is that all about?”, I can answer that. I bought this domain way back in the stone age, aka 1998. I was looking for a domain that was short, easy to remember and had some meaning to me. I grew up in Massachusetts and am baseball crazy, so of course, I’m a huge Red Sox fan. In 1998, the last time the Red Sox had won the World Series was 1918. Since then, my beloved Red Sox have won in 2004 and 2007.

The great 1918 World Series Badge on Fenway Park photo is by: Eric Endow.

If you’re needing some personalized help, let me know.

If you want more info on me, see the post where I interview myself.

The easiest way to get me quickly is via email at phil@1918.com, or on Twitter @1918. If neither of those work for you, you can use the form below: