Interview with Hamid Alipour: Codehead, LLP

Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to your Hamid Alipour, aka Codehead, aka Tess' other half. Hamid is incredibly knowledgeable and accomplished, but he dislikes the spotlight, so we're particularly lucky that he consented to this interview. So many VAF members have benefited from his sage advice regarding coding issues. We're especially grateful for the basic HTML classes he's done with us here in the VAF Chatroom. (Sidenote: Session 6 in the HTML and CSS - The Basics series is scheduled for October 10th) We thank you profusely, Hamid, for sharing your thoughts and considerable experience with us here.

Hamid Alipour is a partner in Codehead, LLP with his wife, Tess. Hamid speaks 12 markup and programming languages - Yes, 12: PHP, CSS, Ajax, JavaScript, HTML/XHTML, Java, Python, C/C++, ASP, Visual Basic, Scheme and Action Script. He has a penchant for solving the unsolvable; an affinity for clean, hand-written code; and is a Zend Certified PHP 5 Engineer. Visit the company website for more information.


In plain English (no geek speak, please), describe what you are working on these days for clients. What kinds of tasks are involved? What's fun about it? What's difficult?

I'm working with a lot of clients on SEO; the websites I'm working on right now are fairly large and have a lot of strong competition, which is always the biggest challenge. The fun part is when I see the results from my work.

I'm also working on optimizing performance for one of our client websites. I recently added a database with 10,000,000 rows and there are a lot of SQL queries that have to be optimized. The challenge here is designing the database and indexes so that those queries can run very fast: anything slower than 0.01 seconds is unacceptable. And because the SQL query is just one part of many when it comes to rendering a web page, it has to be very fast.

The performance challenges I encounter with these larger sites is the reason I created an open-source caching software which is now being translated into other languages, such as Python.

Finding solutions to these kinds of problems is fun for me.

As far as personal projects go, I just launched a new website, Coding Recipes, which is a free resource where programmers and webmasters can find and share quick programming solutions and code snippets.


You have a ton of material on your blog. How does writing a blog fit into your routine and strategies for growth? Do you recommend that VAs should all do blogs to attract website traffic?

I used to keep all the little tips and tricks I came up with in a folder on my computer but then I realized those tips and tricks could be useful to others, so I started my blog. The blog does definitely bring traffic and as a result, new clients. The power of good content is limitless.

My blog was never part of a strategy but it has helped me make new contacts, meet other developers, become involved in new projects, and of course connect with clients.

And yes, I highly recommend blogging to anyone who has something to say. You might think that "No one is interested in what I have to say ..." but you might be surprised. Blogging is a good way to share your knowledge and it puts current content on your site each time you post, which is great for SEO.


You often emphasize the value of SEO. What's your definition of it? Why is it important?

SEO is more than building links and putting in meta tags; most people don't realize that there are over 100 different elements that can go into good Search Engine Optimization. SEO is important because you want to show your website to as many people who are interested in what you have to offer as you can. We live in exciting times when everyone, all over the world, is connected through the Internet and we all use one tool, the search engines (especially Google), to find what we're interested in. Good SEO is the difference between the success or failure of a site. You can be the best of the best at what you do, and you can have the most expensive website out there, but who's going to see it?


How can a Virtual Assistant, who wants to find customers online but knows nothing about SEO, get some beginning understanding of how to use SEO to drive traffic?

Getting started with SEO is pretty simple really. Just think about how you find information online, when you search for a keyword and the search engines show you the web pages that are most relevant to your search term. With that in mind, think about what keywords your potential clients might search for to find your website. Once you to understand your market, you should know what they're going to search for to find you online - then start writing your web pages in a way that contains those keywords. But you don't want to stuff a page with keywords; the search engines have algorithms to detect keyword stuffing and will penalize you for it. So write your pages with real people in mind. It's one thing to grow your traffic, another to bring in traffic that converts to your goal (sign-ups, readers, clients, comments)

This is another way blogging can be very effective and useful - make regular blog posts on topics containing your keywords. The search engines are smarter than you might think; like your human visitors, they also see that your blog is being updated regularly, so they come back to index the new content, and as a result, you get more exposure than a website that doesn't get updated for long periods of time.

Another thing you should do every once in a while is read your own blog or site from the perspective of your site visitors. Ask yourself these questions:

1 - Would you be happy if Google showed you that page as a result for your search term? Or would you hit your back button right away to look for something more relevant?

2 - Is the content drafted and presented with care and attention? Does it have spelling/grammar errors? Is it too long, too short?

3 - Would you save it in your favorites and go back to it regularly? Does it provide current information or is it static and unchanging?

4 - Would you participate and write comments (if it's a blog)? Are the stories, posts and information provided engaging enough or is it boring, like reading a textbook or manual?


As a 'web applications architect,' you may have opinions about the big picture of the internet. The term, 'Web 2.0' is used less frequently these days. What's the future of online communications?

The future is going to be online - we already shop online, pay our bills online, some study online, order groceries online, communicate online, and watch movies and TV online. It's going to be an era of post-PC devices. Mini-computers, all wired to the internet. Look at the iPhone, iPod and little netbooks etc. Your fridge is going to be online too. It already has a tiny computer in it but in the future it'll be online and will update its firmware every once in a while, automatically. Even our cars are going to be online; this is inevitable - imagine a wired GPS device that reports everyone's location and travel path to a central server. You want to go downtown and it knows how many people are moving that way from each direction and will route a course for you to avoid traffic.

Our lives will continue to be enriched by a lot of different post-PC, internet-connected devices. We'll do things more efficiently - saving time, energy, money, and cutting down on pollution.


Do you have a basic approach to, or philosophy of, web development? Where do you start with clients? What is your favorite part of the process?

When you're building web applications with 15,000 lines of PHP, HTML, CSS and JavaScript code it's important to keep scalability in mind. If you build a website that looks great on the outside but is a mess on the inside or is hard to update or make changes to, then there's something wrong. The same is true for SEO. If a website doesn't have good SEO from the first line of code it's not going to index properly. I guess my philosophy would be to do it right the first time.

Tess and I work together on every project; she has her specialties, I have mine - we've developed a good system for getting things done. Sometimes though, Tess comes up with these huge ideas, like "I want this part of the site to make tea for the client!" and I'll usually say "That's really impossible." But she pushes me, and says, "I know you can do it..." and I will tell you that we build some of the greatest features this way!

Honestly my favorite part of any project is the coding.


Since you live and work with a Virtual Assistant, we can surmise that you know quite a bit about the industry. How can virtual assistants tap into the market of web developers? What ways could we make life easier for people who do work such as you do? Where can VAs locate web developers who might be looking for help?

I think you have to start with a basic understanding of what web development, or SEO is, before you can work in the industry. Just like any other specialty that you want to work in - do your homework. Stay on top of trends and conversations on the developer blogs and in their forums, etc. In the end, you're going to connect with any potential client by being where they are and showing that you know your stuff, or are at least sincerely interested. The same rules apply to developers as potential clients as any other market.


You speak fully twelve (12) programming languages! Where do you go from here? What are you currently planning to learn about?

For the past few years I've learned about three new languages a year - just by reading books, researching online, and through practical application. One of the best ways to learn something is by doing it. Programming and markup languages might seem complicated at first glance, but once you have a good foundation you can easily build on it and continue to develop your knowledge. Of course, it helps if it's something you love and have a drive to learn.

The next thing I plan to learn is iPhone application development; I have some ideas that I am anxious to see in action.


One thing we know you've been learning a lot about recently is fatherhood! Give us your perspective: what's it like being a Dad?

I'm having a lot of fun, it's great to be a dad. I spend a few hours every morning with the baby and it's honestly the best part of my day. I'm teaching her Persian, which is my mother language. I'm also learning a lot too, of course.

One important lesson for me has been that now I can see now how deeply parents love their children and I have a far better understanding of my own parents and their love for me.


Any final words of advice for Virtual Assistants?

Always remember, nothing is impossible and the only thing that limits you is your own imagination.


Interview graciously conducted by: Mary H. Ruth of Virtual Writing and Communications: Specializing in writing, editing, and social media marketing, Mary has been a virtual assistant, and member of VAF, since 2007. Please visit her blog, Virtual Assistance and You, a journal for VAs and their clients.