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posted by Maksim at 7:32 AM
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Sunday, February 08, 2009
Friday, April 27, 2007
Four new Google patent apps reflect major search rank methodology changes
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by Russell Shaw
This morning, several Google patent applications were published that if enacted, would significantly alter the way that Google figures search rankings.
The four patent applications are:
1 20070094255 DOCUMENT SCORING BASED ON LINK-BASED CRITERIA 2 20070094254 DOCUMENT SCORING BASED ON DOCUMENT INCEPTION DATE 3 20070088693 DOCUMENT SCORING BASED ON TRAFFIC ASSOCIATED WITH A DOCUMENT 4 20070088692 DOCUMENT SCORING BASED ON QUERY ANALYSIS
While I'll leave detailed analysis of these to the Google experts, I would like to dig into #2- DOCUMENT SCORING BASED ON DOCUMENT INCEPTION DATE.
The Abstract reads:
A system may determine a document inception date associated with a document, generate a score for the document based, at least in part, on the document inception date, and rank the document with regard to at least one other document based, at least in part, on the score.
In plain English, that infers an enhancement of Google's ability to rank documents by when they were published- presumably the most recent, first.
That would be welcome, not the least in part because at the present time, Google's ranked search results can integrate documents published a few years ago with those published last week. I've often felt that published date should have more prominence in determining these writings.
GMTA because Google apparently is of like mind.
While the Patent application document goes into quite thorough detail about how this standard will be achieved, Figure 3 from the Patent app, as well as its accompanying literature, shows how this will be done. So let's go there now.
FIG. 3 is an exemplary functional block diagram of search engine 125 according to an implementation consistent with the principles of the invention. Search engine 125 may include document locator 310, history component 320, and ranking component 330. As shown in FIG. 3, one or more of document locator 310 and history component 320 may connect to a document corpus 340. Document corpus 340 may include information associated with documents that were previously crawled, indexed, and stored, for example, in a database accessible by search engine 125. History data, as will be described in more detail below, may be associated with each of the documents in document corpus 340. The history data may be stored in document corpus 340 or elsewhere.
Document locator 310 may identify a set of documents whose contents match a user search query. Document locator 310 may initially locate documents from document corpus 340 by comparing the terms in the user's search query to the documents in the corpus. In general, processes for indexing documents and searching the indexed collection to return a set of documents containing the searched terms are well known in the art. Accordingly, this functionality of document locator 310 will not be described further herein.
History component 320 may gather history data associated with the documents in document corpus 340. In implementations consistent with the principles of the invention, the history data may include data relating to: document inception dates; document content updates/changes; query analysis; link-based criteria; anchor text (e.g., the text in which a hyperlink is embedded, typically underlined or otherwise highlighted in a document); traffic; user behavior; domain-related information; ranking history; user maintained/generated data (e.g., bookmarks); unique words, bigrams, and phrases in anchor text; linkage of independent peers; and/or document topics. These different types of history data are described in additional detail below. In other implementations, the history data may include additional or different kinds of data.
Ranking component 330 may assign a ranking score (also called simply a "score" herein) to one or more documents in document corpus 340. Ranking component 330 may assign the ranking scores prior to, independent of, or in connection with a search query. When the documents are associated with a search query (e.g., identified as relevant to the search query), search engine 125 may sort the documents based on the ranking score and return the sorted set of documents to the client that submitted the search query. Consistent with aspects of the invention, the ranking score is a value that attempts to quantify the quality of the documents.
In implementations consistent with the principles of the invention, the score is based, at least in part, on the history data from history component 320.
This seems pretty major to me.
http://www.protect-x.com/
by Russell Shaw
This morning, several Google patent applications were published that if enacted, would significantly alter the way that Google figures search rankings.
The four patent applications are:
1 20070094255 DOCUMENT SCORING BASED ON LINK-BASED CRITERIA 2 20070094254 DOCUMENT SCORING BASED ON DOCUMENT INCEPTION DATE 3 20070088693 DOCUMENT SCORING BASED ON TRAFFIC ASSOCIATED WITH A DOCUMENT 4 20070088692 DOCUMENT SCORING BASED ON QUERY ANALYSIS
While I'll leave detailed analysis of these to the Google experts, I would like to dig into #2- DOCUMENT SCORING BASED ON DOCUMENT INCEPTION DATE.
The Abstract reads:
A system may determine a document inception date associated with a document, generate a score for the document based, at least in part, on the document inception date, and rank the document with regard to at least one other document based, at least in part, on the score.
In plain English, that infers an enhancement of Google's ability to rank documents by when they were published- presumably the most recent, first.
That would be welcome, not the least in part because at the present time, Google's ranked search results can integrate documents published a few years ago with those published last week. I've often felt that published date should have more prominence in determining these writings.
GMTA because Google apparently is of like mind.
While the Patent application document goes into quite thorough detail about how this standard will be achieved, Figure 3 from the Patent app, as well as its accompanying literature, shows how this will be done. So let's go there now.
FIG. 3 is an exemplary functional block diagram of search engine 125 according to an implementation consistent with the principles of the invention. Search engine 125 may include document locator 310, history component 320, and ranking component 330. As shown in FIG. 3, one or more of document locator 310 and history component 320 may connect to a document corpus 340. Document corpus 340 may include information associated with documents that were previously crawled, indexed, and stored, for example, in a database accessible by search engine 125. History data, as will be described in more detail below, may be associated with each of the documents in document corpus 340. The history data may be stored in document corpus 340 or elsewhere.
Document locator 310 may identify a set of documents whose contents match a user search query. Document locator 310 may initially locate documents from document corpus 340 by comparing the terms in the user's search query to the documents in the corpus. In general, processes for indexing documents and searching the indexed collection to return a set of documents containing the searched terms are well known in the art. Accordingly, this functionality of document locator 310 will not be described further herein.
History component 320 may gather history data associated with the documents in document corpus 340. In implementations consistent with the principles of the invention, the history data may include data relating to: document inception dates; document content updates/changes; query analysis; link-based criteria; anchor text (e.g., the text in which a hyperlink is embedded, typically underlined or otherwise highlighted in a document); traffic; user behavior; domain-related information; ranking history; user maintained/generated data (e.g., bookmarks); unique words, bigrams, and phrases in anchor text; linkage of independent peers; and/or document topics. These different types of history data are described in additional detail below. In other implementations, the history data may include additional or different kinds of data.
Ranking component 330 may assign a ranking score (also called simply a "score" herein) to one or more documents in document corpus 340. Ranking component 330 may assign the ranking scores prior to, independent of, or in connection with a search query. When the documents are associated with a search query (e.g., identified as relevant to the search query), search engine 125 may sort the documents based on the ranking score and return the sorted set of documents to the client that submitted the search query. Consistent with aspects of the invention, the ranking score is a value that attempts to quantify the quality of the documents.
In implementations consistent with the principles of the invention, the score is based, at least in part, on the history data from history component 320.
This seems pretty major to me.
http://www.protect-x.com/
posted by Maksim at 12:41 PM
0 comments
Virus Writers Taint Google Ad Links
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By Brian Krebs
Virus writers have been gaming Google's "sponsored links" -- the paid ads shown alongside search engine results. They are aiming to get their malicious software installed on computers whose users click onto ad links after searching for legitimate sites such as BBBonline.org, the official Web site of the Better Business Bureau.
Sponsored links allow customers to buy advertisements attached to a particular search term. When a Google user enters a term into the firm's search engine, the ad belonging to the advertiser that bid the highest price for that search term appears at the top of the list of search results.
According to a report at Exploit Prevention Labs, while the top sponsored links that showed up earlier this week when users searched for "BBB," "BBBonline" or "Cars.com" appeared to direct visitors to those sites, they initially would route people who clicked on the ads through an intermediate site. The intermediate site attempted to exploit a vulnerability in Microsoft Windows to silently install software designed to steal passwords and other sensitive information from infected PCs. The attackers exploited a flaw in Microsoft's Internet Explorer Web browser, a problem that the company issued a patch to fix last June.
As Exploit Labs's Roger Thompson notes in his blog, the bad guys behind the attack appeared to capitalize on an odd feature of Google's sponsored links. Normally, when a viewer hovers over a hyperlink, the name of the site that the computer user is about to access appears in the bottom left corner of the browser window. But hovering over Google's sponsored links shows nothing in that area. That blank space potentially gives bad guys another way to hide where visitors will be taken first.
According to Thompson, Google has taken down the offending sponsored links. In fact, searching for "betterbusinessbureau" in Google no longer turns up any sponsored links at the moment.
This certainly is not the first time virus writers have used ads to spawn their wares. Last summer, Security Fix discovered that more than a million Windows users had been infected with spyware thanks to a malicious banner advertisement shown for several days on high-traffic sites like MySpace.com and Webshots.com.
http://www.protect-x.com/
By Brian Krebs
Virus writers have been gaming Google's "sponsored links" -- the paid ads shown alongside search engine results. They are aiming to get their malicious software installed on computers whose users click onto ad links after searching for legitimate sites such as BBBonline.org, the official Web site of the Better Business Bureau.
Sponsored links allow customers to buy advertisements attached to a particular search term. When a Google user enters a term into the firm's search engine, the ad belonging to the advertiser that bid the highest price for that search term appears at the top of the list of search results.
According to a report at Exploit Prevention Labs, while the top sponsored links that showed up earlier this week when users searched for "BBB," "BBBonline" or "Cars.com" appeared to direct visitors to those sites, they initially would route people who clicked on the ads through an intermediate site. The intermediate site attempted to exploit a vulnerability in Microsoft Windows to silently install software designed to steal passwords and other sensitive information from infected PCs. The attackers exploited a flaw in Microsoft's Internet Explorer Web browser, a problem that the company issued a patch to fix last June.
As Exploit Labs's Roger Thompson notes in his blog, the bad guys behind the attack appeared to capitalize on an odd feature of Google's sponsored links. Normally, when a viewer hovers over a hyperlink, the name of the site that the computer user is about to access appears in the bottom left corner of the browser window. But hovering over Google's sponsored links shows nothing in that area. That blank space potentially gives bad guys another way to hide where visitors will be taken first.
According to Thompson, Google has taken down the offending sponsored links. In fact, searching for "betterbusinessbureau" in Google no longer turns up any sponsored links at the moment.
This certainly is not the first time virus writers have used ads to spawn their wares. Last summer, Security Fix discovered that more than a million Windows users had been infected with spyware thanks to a malicious banner advertisement shown for several days on high-traffic sites like MySpace.com and Webshots.com.
http://www.protect-x.com/
posted by Maksim at 12:37 PM
0 comments
N.Y. Court: Words Can Harm
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By: SM Gelerman
ALBANY, N.Y. - Sticks and stones may break your bones, and words potentially can hurt you, according to a decision by the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which ruled that individuals can be prosecuted for distributing to minors via the Internet "words" that depict indecent material.
In a 5-2 decision, reversing earlier rulings, the appellate court found that New York state prosecutors have the authority to charge someone with disseminating indecent materials to minors over the Internet—even if these materials are words only and do not include pictures.
In 2004, the Westchester County district attorney's office conducted a sting operation to seek out Internet predators of children. One suspect nabbed in the sting was Jeffrey Kozlow, a 41-year-old Manhattan attorney who sent emails graphically describing sexual acts to what he thought was a 14-year-old boy. Authorities arrested Kozlow and charged him with five counts of attempted dissemination of indecent materials to a minor. Although convicted of the crime and sentenced to five years' probation, Kozlow later had his conviction overturned by the appellate division, a midlevel New York court.
The issue central to Kozlow's case concerns the interpretation of a single word in a New York statute that prohibits someone from disseminating indecent materials to minors via the Internet. This latest snag has resulted from the appellate court's ruling that "depiction" denotes dissemination of both "images" and "words."
Judges Robert Smith and Theodore Jones wrote the two dissenting opinions in the highest court's ruling. They asserted that Westchester prosecutors should have been held to a stricter standard when defining the meaning of the statute. "The primary meaning of the 'depict' in every dictionary I have consulted is to represent a picture," Smith wrote. "As all these dictionaries say, 'depict' can also be used as a synonym for 'describe.' But, if the legislature intended to reach both pictures and words, the obvious way to do so was to say 'depicts or describes.'"
http://www.protect-x.com/
By: SM Gelerman
ALBANY, N.Y. - Sticks and stones may break your bones, and words potentially can hurt you, according to a decision by the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which ruled that individuals can be prosecuted for distributing to minors via the Internet "words" that depict indecent material.
In a 5-2 decision, reversing earlier rulings, the appellate court found that New York state prosecutors have the authority to charge someone with disseminating indecent materials to minors over the Internet—even if these materials are words only and do not include pictures.
In 2004, the Westchester County district attorney's office conducted a sting operation to seek out Internet predators of children. One suspect nabbed in the sting was Jeffrey Kozlow, a 41-year-old Manhattan attorney who sent emails graphically describing sexual acts to what he thought was a 14-year-old boy. Authorities arrested Kozlow and charged him with five counts of attempted dissemination of indecent materials to a minor. Although convicted of the crime and sentenced to five years' probation, Kozlow later had his conviction overturned by the appellate division, a midlevel New York court.
The issue central to Kozlow's case concerns the interpretation of a single word in a New York statute that prohibits someone from disseminating indecent materials to minors via the Internet. This latest snag has resulted from the appellate court's ruling that "depiction" denotes dissemination of both "images" and "words."
Judges Robert Smith and Theodore Jones wrote the two dissenting opinions in the highest court's ruling. They asserted that Westchester prosecutors should have been held to a stricter standard when defining the meaning of the statute. "The primary meaning of the 'depict' in every dictionary I have consulted is to represent a picture," Smith wrote. "As all these dictionaries say, 'depict' can also be used as a synonym for 'describe.' But, if the legislature intended to reach both pictures and words, the obvious way to do so was to say 'depicts or describes.'"
http://www.protect-x.com/
posted by Maksim at 12:05 PM
0 comments
Thursday, April 26, 2007
Poland in anti-gay dog house
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GAY.COM
Poland stunned the international community when it announced plans to ban the discussion of homosexuality in schools. Here in the UK, it brought back grim memories of Thatcher’s Clause 28 and highlighted Poland’s stubborn resistance to human rights. The European commissioner for equal opportunity has echoed such thoughts by stating that such measures would violate European law."Such a law, if it were to emerge, would be in contradiction with the European human rights convention and the EU charter on fundamental rights," Vladimir Spidla told the European Parliament as part of a debate on homophobia.The schools bill is sponsored by the Kaczynskis' Minister of Education, infamous homophobe Roman Giertych, who is also Deputy Prime Minister. Giertych is the leader of the Catholic nationalist, anti-Semitic League of Polish Families party, the Kaczynskis coalition partner in government. Vice Minister of Education Miroslaw Orzechowski told reporters that the aim of the law is to "punish whomever promotes homosexuality or any other deviance of a sexual nature in educational establishments," and that any teacher who violated the law could be fired, fined or imprisoned."There are children in schools who could be susceptible to homosexual political agitation, and that puts homosexual propaganda in direct opposition to the elementary interests of our state," Orzechowski said. He highlighted safer sex pamphlets featuring a picture of two men kissing."We have to exert our influence while we still can and not wait until it is too late," the Vice Minister added.Proving their resistance to logical debate, a number of Polish parliament members stormed from the meeting after a vote to suspend the debate failed.The organisation Human Rights Watch has also criticised the proposal as a violation of basic rights. Amnesty International said in a statement that "the measure would deprive students of their right to freedom of expression, of a full education, and of the right to associate freely. It would institutionalise discrimination in Poland's school system. "It would criminalise anybody who promotes equality regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity. In short, if the measure is enacted, Poland would be in violation of its obligations under international and regional human rights treaties to which Poland is a state party and its commitments when the country joined the European Union."Polish gay activists said the proposed bill highlighted the Kaczynski government's worrying attitude toward homosexuals. "The gay and lesbian community is isolated in Polish society, it is hated," said Robert Biedron, chairman of the Polish Campaign Against Homophobia (KPH). Biedron added, "More and more gay people are victims of physical abuse, so I'm very much concerned that Poland will become the Cuba or North Korea of Europe."Biedron has every right to be concerned, especially as Warsaw is about to host the World Congress of Families IV on May 11-13 at the Palace of Culture and Science. President Kaczynski -- who twice banned Gay Pride marches when he was mayor of Warsaw -- is both Honorary Patron of this convention and will give the introductory speech.According to WCF organisers, more than 3500 "pro-family" activists are expected to attend. The WCF website spouts seemingly endless anti-gay diatribes. One section states: “Marriage between a man and a woman forms the sole moral context for natural sexual union. Whether through pornography, promiscuity, incest or homosexuality, deviations from these created sexual norms cannot truly satisfy the human spirit. They lead to obsession, remorse, alienation, and disease”.
http://www.protect-x.com/
GAY.COM
Poland stunned the international community when it announced plans to ban the discussion of homosexuality in schools. Here in the UK, it brought back grim memories of Thatcher’s Clause 28 and highlighted Poland’s stubborn resistance to human rights. The European commissioner for equal opportunity has echoed such thoughts by stating that such measures would violate European law."Such a law, if it were to emerge, would be in contradiction with the European human rights convention and the EU charter on fundamental rights," Vladimir Spidla told the European Parliament as part of a debate on homophobia.The schools bill is sponsored by the Kaczynskis' Minister of Education, infamous homophobe Roman Giertych, who is also Deputy Prime Minister. Giertych is the leader of the Catholic nationalist, anti-Semitic League of Polish Families party, the Kaczynskis coalition partner in government. Vice Minister of Education Miroslaw Orzechowski told reporters that the aim of the law is to "punish whomever promotes homosexuality or any other deviance of a sexual nature in educational establishments," and that any teacher who violated the law could be fired, fined or imprisoned."There are children in schools who could be susceptible to homosexual political agitation, and that puts homosexual propaganda in direct opposition to the elementary interests of our state," Orzechowski said. He highlighted safer sex pamphlets featuring a picture of two men kissing."We have to exert our influence while we still can and not wait until it is too late," the Vice Minister added.Proving their resistance to logical debate, a number of Polish parliament members stormed from the meeting after a vote to suspend the debate failed.The organisation Human Rights Watch has also criticised the proposal as a violation of basic rights. Amnesty International said in a statement that "the measure would deprive students of their right to freedom of expression, of a full education, and of the right to associate freely. It would institutionalise discrimination in Poland's school system. "It would criminalise anybody who promotes equality regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity. In short, if the measure is enacted, Poland would be in violation of its obligations under international and regional human rights treaties to which Poland is a state party and its commitments when the country joined the European Union."Polish gay activists said the proposed bill highlighted the Kaczynski government's worrying attitude toward homosexuals. "The gay and lesbian community is isolated in Polish society, it is hated," said Robert Biedron, chairman of the Polish Campaign Against Homophobia (KPH). Biedron added, "More and more gay people are victims of physical abuse, so I'm very much concerned that Poland will become the Cuba or North Korea of Europe."Biedron has every right to be concerned, especially as Warsaw is about to host the World Congress of Families IV on May 11-13 at the Palace of Culture and Science. President Kaczynski -- who twice banned Gay Pride marches when he was mayor of Warsaw -- is both Honorary Patron of this convention and will give the introductory speech.According to WCF organisers, more than 3500 "pro-family" activists are expected to attend. The WCF website spouts seemingly endless anti-gay diatribes. One section states: “Marriage between a man and a woman forms the sole moral context for natural sexual union. Whether through pornography, promiscuity, incest or homosexuality, deviations from these created sexual norms cannot truly satisfy the human spirit. They lead to obsession, remorse, alienation, and disease”.
http://www.protect-x.com/
posted by Maksim at 2:34 PM
0 comments
Let Google's Algorithm Show You The Traffic
Visit a new Protect-X Sponsors section!
by Titus Hoskins
Recently Rand Fishkin of Seomoz.org brought together 37 of the world's Top SEO experts to tackle Google's Algorithm, the complex formula and methods Google uses to rank web pages. This ranking formula is extremely important to webmasters because finding which factors Google uses to rank their index is often considered the Holy Grail of site optimization.Google's ranking factors affect how and where you are listed in their search engine results or SERPs. Since obtaining top positions for your targeted keywords often spells success for your site, knowing Google's ranking factors can be very beneficial.Every experienced webmaster will know Google is the main supplier of search engine traffic on the web, getting listed on the first page or anywhere in the top 10 positions for popular keywords will result in plenty of free quality targeted traffic.Briefly listed below are some of the main ranking factors you should be optimizing your web pages for in your marketing. The majority of these ranking factors will be very familiar to most webmasters who take full advantage of any and every SEO tactic which will give their site an edge over their competition.Here are some of the main ranking factors to consider:1. Keywords In Your Title And On Your PagePlace your keyword or keyword phrase in the title of your page and also in your copy. Many webmasters use variations of their keywords on this page and also include it in the H1 headline.2. Keywords In Your URLKeep your page on topic and place your keyword in the URL. Use your keyword in the H2, H3... headlines. Place it in the description and meta tags, place it in bold/strong tags, but keep your content readable and useful. Be aware of the text surrounding your keywords, search engines will become more semantic in the coming years so context is important.3. Create High Quality Relevant ContentHave high quality relevant content on your pages. Your content should be related to the topic of your site and updated regularly depending on the nature of your site.4. Internal Onsite LinkingInternal linking is important to your overall ranking. Make sure your linking structure is easy for the spiders to crawl. Most suggest a simple hierarchy with links no more than three clicks away from your home/index page.Creating traffic modes or clusters of related links within a section on your site has proven very effective for many webmasters, including this one. For example, creating a simple online guide on a subject related to your site's topic can prove very beneficial. Keep all the links connected and closely related in subject matter and don't forget to have occasional external 'anchor keyworded' links coming to these internal links on your site instead of to your homepage. Deep build your links.5. Only Linking To High Quality Related SitesDon't forget to link to high quality PR related sites. Linking to high quality sites shows the search engines your site is very useful to your visitors. Build relationships within communities on the topic of your site. Be extremely careful not to link to bad neighborhoods, link farms and spam sites... when in doubt, don't link out!Unless your site has been around for years and is well established and trusted by Google, this factor will have an adverse effect on your site's overall ranking. Linking only to high quality content sites will give your site an edge over your competition.6. Global Linking PopularityOne of the major ranking factors is the Global Linking Popularity of your site. You should try to build plenty of inbound links from quality sites. One simple and effective way to do this is through writing articles and submitting them to the online article directories. Only related sites will pick up and display your articles with your anchor text links back to your site. These are often one-way-links.But don't just write articles to get links, write quality content that will help the reader first and the links will come naturally. Also remember an article is an extremely good way of pre-selling your products and gaining trust with your potential customers.7. Anchor Text Is Very ImportantAnchor text is an important factor your must not forget to use. Perhaps more importantly these inbound links should be related or relevant to your site's topic, which will play an important role in your rankings. Don't ignore the text surrounding your links and use different anchor text links to avoid keyword spamming.Keep in mind, as search engines become more semantic, the whole text of your article will probably be considered your anchor text, thus making articles even more important to your rankings.8. Number And Quality Of Your Inbound LinksYour inbound links should also come from related high Global Link Popular sites. The more links your have from these popular related sites the higher rankings you will get. Many SEO experts suggest you should have a steady stream of new sites (inbound links) added each month to keep your rankings growing. These links will age and increase your rankings after 4 or 5 months. Both quality and quantity is important.9. Reliable Server And ServiceLike any business, Google is only serving up a product (SERPs) to its customers, this service must be continuous and available at all times. Make sure you have a good reliable server because any extended downtime when your site is inaccessible to the Bots may be detrimental to your rankings. If it is down for over 48 hours, you could be dropped from the index. Ouch!10. Duplicate Content Is A No No!Make certain you don't place duplicate content on your site. This may affect your rankings and get your pages thrown into the supplemental index. Be careful not to use duplicate title or mega tags on your pages as this will lower and disburse your internal page rankings, resulting in poor optimization.Your overall SEO strategy should be to provide valuable relevant content and links for your visitors and the search engines. Furthermore, as mentioned earlier, be extremely careful who you link out to from your site. Avoid spam sites, link farms or selling links. Although it is a bit outdated, using the Google Toolbar will still give you a general overview of a site's PR or Page Rank.These are some of the most common and important ranking factors Google uses to rank and display their search engine results. Optimizing your site or keywords for these factors can prove very beneficial and rewarding.There are many more factors so you should use the link in the resource box below to get all the gory details. For any novice or experienced webmaster it makes for a fascinating read and is extremely helpful in tackling Google's complex ranking system or algorithm. Conquer it and an endless supply of free organic traffic is yours for the taking.
http://www.protect-x.com/
by Titus Hoskins
Recently Rand Fishkin of Seomoz.org brought together 37 of the world's Top SEO experts to tackle Google's Algorithm, the complex formula and methods Google uses to rank web pages. This ranking formula is extremely important to webmasters because finding which factors Google uses to rank their index is often considered the Holy Grail of site optimization.Google's ranking factors affect how and where you are listed in their search engine results or SERPs. Since obtaining top positions for your targeted keywords often spells success for your site, knowing Google's ranking factors can be very beneficial.Every experienced webmaster will know Google is the main supplier of search engine traffic on the web, getting listed on the first page or anywhere in the top 10 positions for popular keywords will result in plenty of free quality targeted traffic.Briefly listed below are some of the main ranking factors you should be optimizing your web pages for in your marketing. The majority of these ranking factors will be very familiar to most webmasters who take full advantage of any and every SEO tactic which will give their site an edge over their competition.Here are some of the main ranking factors to consider:1. Keywords In Your Title And On Your PagePlace your keyword or keyword phrase in the title of your page and also in your copy. Many webmasters use variations of their keywords on this page and also include it in the H1 headline.2. Keywords In Your URLKeep your page on topic and place your keyword in the URL. Use your keyword in the H2, H3... headlines. Place it in the description and meta tags, place it in bold/strong tags, but keep your content readable and useful. Be aware of the text surrounding your keywords, search engines will become more semantic in the coming years so context is important.3. Create High Quality Relevant ContentHave high quality relevant content on your pages. Your content should be related to the topic of your site and updated regularly depending on the nature of your site.4. Internal Onsite LinkingInternal linking is important to your overall ranking. Make sure your linking structure is easy for the spiders to crawl. Most suggest a simple hierarchy with links no more than three clicks away from your home/index page.Creating traffic modes or clusters of related links within a section on your site has proven very effective for many webmasters, including this one. For example, creating a simple online guide on a subject related to your site's topic can prove very beneficial. Keep all the links connected and closely related in subject matter and don't forget to have occasional external 'anchor keyworded' links coming to these internal links on your site instead of to your homepage. Deep build your links.5. Only Linking To High Quality Related SitesDon't forget to link to high quality PR related sites. Linking to high quality sites shows the search engines your site is very useful to your visitors. Build relationships within communities on the topic of your site. Be extremely careful not to link to bad neighborhoods, link farms and spam sites... when in doubt, don't link out!Unless your site has been around for years and is well established and trusted by Google, this factor will have an adverse effect on your site's overall ranking. Linking only to high quality content sites will give your site an edge over your competition.6. Global Linking PopularityOne of the major ranking factors is the Global Linking Popularity of your site. You should try to build plenty of inbound links from quality sites. One simple and effective way to do this is through writing articles and submitting them to the online article directories. Only related sites will pick up and display your articles with your anchor text links back to your site. These are often one-way-links.But don't just write articles to get links, write quality content that will help the reader first and the links will come naturally. Also remember an article is an extremely good way of pre-selling your products and gaining trust with your potential customers.7. Anchor Text Is Very ImportantAnchor text is an important factor your must not forget to use. Perhaps more importantly these inbound links should be related or relevant to your site's topic, which will play an important role in your rankings. Don't ignore the text surrounding your links and use different anchor text links to avoid keyword spamming.Keep in mind, as search engines become more semantic, the whole text of your article will probably be considered your anchor text, thus making articles even more important to your rankings.8. Number And Quality Of Your Inbound LinksYour inbound links should also come from related high Global Link Popular sites. The more links your have from these popular related sites the higher rankings you will get. Many SEO experts suggest you should have a steady stream of new sites (inbound links) added each month to keep your rankings growing. These links will age and increase your rankings after 4 or 5 months. Both quality and quantity is important.9. Reliable Server And ServiceLike any business, Google is only serving up a product (SERPs) to its customers, this service must be continuous and available at all times. Make sure you have a good reliable server because any extended downtime when your site is inaccessible to the Bots may be detrimental to your rankings. If it is down for over 48 hours, you could be dropped from the index. Ouch!10. Duplicate Content Is A No No!Make certain you don't place duplicate content on your site. This may affect your rankings and get your pages thrown into the supplemental index. Be careful not to use duplicate title or mega tags on your pages as this will lower and disburse your internal page rankings, resulting in poor optimization.Your overall SEO strategy should be to provide valuable relevant content and links for your visitors and the search engines. Furthermore, as mentioned earlier, be extremely careful who you link out to from your site. Avoid spam sites, link farms or selling links. Although it is a bit outdated, using the Google Toolbar will still give you a general overview of a site's PR or Page Rank.These are some of the most common and important ranking factors Google uses to rank and display their search engine results. Optimizing your site or keywords for these factors can prove very beneficial and rewarding.There are many more factors so you should use the link in the resource box below to get all the gory details. For any novice or experienced webmaster it makes for a fascinating read and is extremely helpful in tackling Google's complex ranking system or algorithm. Conquer it and an endless supply of free organic traffic is yours for the taking.
http://www.protect-x.com/
posted by Maksim at 2:27 PM
0 comments
10 Quick Ways to Increase Conversions
Visit a new Protect-X Sponsors section!
by Stoney deGeyter
My SEO firm has been spending a good deal of time analyzing conversion and usability aspects for our clients over the past year. While there are literally hundreds, if not thousands, of things that can be changed to help improve conversion rates, we've created a short list of things that are both quick and easy to change or add to your site. These are in no particular order.1. Blue and underlined linksI almost made each of these their own item but decided to combine them into one because both can be fixed with a simple CSS change. Let's attack the underlining first.There are many ways to make your links stand out, you can bold them, italicize them, make them bigger or change color, etc. But none of these changes will intuitively let your visitors know they are looking at a link. That's why underlining your links is so important. Underlined text on a web page is the universal sign of a hyperlink to another page or area of the site. This is also why you should not underline any text other than links, it causes confusion!While most people want websites that stand out, there are still things that we all must do in order to ensure our audience isn't confused. In other words, we have to conform to what are typical web development practices. If we don’t we lose our ability to communicate to our audience. Underlining links creates clarity making navigating from page to page easier for your audience. If it's underlined, they know it's a link.As for the blue; again this goes back to perceptions. From the early days of the web all hyperlinks were blue by default. Only later did we begin to style the links in various colors to fit with our site themes. When visitors see blue underlined text, they instinctively know it’s a clickable link. If your link is a different color they may not be so sure or may have to test it to be sure. What you want to accomplish is making your site’s navigation as though-free as possible. You want to drive the audience easily without making them think about how to get from page to page.Of these two rules the underlining is the most important. Because many sites have begun using CSS to change the colors of their links users are getting more used to links not always being blue. But if you can make them blue then do it. If you absolutely can't work in the color blue with your scheme, that's OK, but you absolutely need those links underlined.2. Custom 404-redirectHave you ever navigated to a site or were clicking links within a site and were brought to a white screen with black text telling you the page can't be found? What's your first response. For most, they would simply to move on and find another site to go to. You can prevent many of those exits simply by customizing your 404 page. Take a look at this one here. Anyone getting a broken link on our site will remain on our site with all of our navigation options to choose from. Instead of bolting for the next site they will likely keep browsing the current site.The difference between a custom 404 page and the white page not found screen is like this: Say you’re in a large store and you can’t find a particular item. You find an employee to ask. The generic page-not-found employee would simply say “I’m not sure, sorry, I can’t help you,” and then returns to his business. T custom 404 employee would tell you “I know just where that is, follow me and I’ll show you.” It’s a big difference.Broken links are (or should be) rare, but they do happen, especially coming from external sites. While you have full control over internal links (more on this later) with external links to your site you have little, or no, control over. This makes it even more important to implement a custom 404 page. This is your best option to not lose that traffic that comes from an old or outdated link.3. Links in body contentI once have a version of my site where almost 100% of my internal links were via the navigation panes. It's always smart to have good navigation in your site, but this should not be your only source of linking to important pages. In fact, your body content should be littered with links to various pages of your site.If you talk about your team, link to your about us page. If you talk about your successes, link to your testimonials. If you talk about your services or specific products, link to them as well. The web is an interactive place and visitors want to click as they read something that interests them. If you rely solely on navigation links you are forcing your visitors to have to think about where they want to go next. Don't leave it up to them, tell them where they should go, give them various options, and provide the links so they can go there now.4. Visible phone numberThere are still a number of web users out there who prefer traditional forms of communication like the phone. While the web is interactive, it can often seem less personal. Especially if you don't know how long it will take for an email to get answered. When I want answers, I want them now. Placing your phone number visibly on your pages sends the message that you are available for your customers. They may not need to call you, but just knowing they can gives visitors that extra bit of confidence in your business.5. Fix typos and grammatical errorsNothing says amateur more than constant spelling and grammatical errors. Your words are a representation of who you are and how well your company will be able to fulfill the needs of your visitors. If your website has an overwhelming number of spelling and grammatical errors you're signaling to your visitors that you simply can't be bothered with the small things. But it's those small things that are so very important. Sales are won and lost on what is seemingly inconsequential.Spelling and grammar errors simply lack professionalism which supports credibility. Take the time to fix spelling errors and present a more professional appearance.6. Fix broken linksWe talked about using the 404 page to keep visitors on your site if they hit a bad link. While you can't always control external links to your site you should have 100% control of your site's internal links. Like spelling and grammar errors, broken links are simply unprofessional. Not only that, but what better way to force customers out the door than by clicking to a dead page? Run a regular broken link check on your site regularly especially if you regularly edit your site, add products, move pages, etc.7. Show prices and shipping infoI can't stand sites that bury their pricing information. While the price isn't the only factor when making a decision to purchase it is a significant one. If your visitors can't find product or service prices easily enough they'll likely move on to another site that does display them. Pricing should be considered part of the specifications for the product or service. Its just one additional piece of information that helps users determine quality, affordability and whether what you have is right for them.People don't want to be kept in the dark or have to click to every product individually just to get this information. If you have a product category page showing pictures of what you offer, give the pricing as well, it helps them to find for the right item. In your product pages you also want to include shipping information. This is another sticking point for many and if they see that shipping is cheap enough (before they add the product to the cart) then that can help you make the sale.8. About us pageNot only do you need an about us page but you also need to fill it with good information. Telling about your company is good, but your visitors also want to know about the people involved in the company. Adding this information provides a personal touch and lets people see the faces behind the screen.Use this space to let employees or managers to tell about their skills, experience and their interests. All of that plays a role in building confidence in your visitors. Giving potential customers the background of your team can ensure them that your team is capable of providing service or choosing the best quality products to sell. This reassurance is important.9. Calls to actionEvery page on your site needs to have at least one call to action. A call to action is simply a line of text or an image (and a link) that tells the visitors what they should do next. Typical calls to action are "Read more about...," "Add to cart," "Buy Now," "Read more testimonials," "See why we're #1, " “Sign up,” etc. Calls to action should drive the visitor from page to page or from page to checkout, depending on the situation. Visitors like to be told what to do, as long as they have the choice to do it or not. Calls to action give them both.10. Answer emails and phonesI am often surprised by how often I get told by prospective clients that I was the only company who followed up with an email or phone call. You would think being in business this would be a given, but it's not.Too many companies let their phone calls go to voice mail and don't return email messages in a timely manner. This is especially true with small businesses operating on the web. While these businesses are struggling to make ends meet they fail to realize that their inability to return messages or pick up the phone is one of the primary barriers to success. Even if success isn't a factor, many people are turned off by companies that simply don't get back to them or answer incoming calls. This is a negative impression that can easily be avoided.
http://www.protect-x.com/
by Stoney deGeyter
My SEO firm has been spending a good deal of time analyzing conversion and usability aspects for our clients over the past year. While there are literally hundreds, if not thousands, of things that can be changed to help improve conversion rates, we've created a short list of things that are both quick and easy to change or add to your site. These are in no particular order.1. Blue and underlined linksI almost made each of these their own item but decided to combine them into one because both can be fixed with a simple CSS change. Let's attack the underlining first.There are many ways to make your links stand out, you can bold them, italicize them, make them bigger or change color, etc. But none of these changes will intuitively let your visitors know they are looking at a link. That's why underlining your links is so important. Underlined text on a web page is the universal sign of a hyperlink to another page or area of the site. This is also why you should not underline any text other than links, it causes confusion!While most people want websites that stand out, there are still things that we all must do in order to ensure our audience isn't confused. In other words, we have to conform to what are typical web development practices. If we don’t we lose our ability to communicate to our audience. Underlining links creates clarity making navigating from page to page easier for your audience. If it's underlined, they know it's a link.As for the blue; again this goes back to perceptions. From the early days of the web all hyperlinks were blue by default. Only later did we begin to style the links in various colors to fit with our site themes. When visitors see blue underlined text, they instinctively know it’s a clickable link. If your link is a different color they may not be so sure or may have to test it to be sure. What you want to accomplish is making your site’s navigation as though-free as possible. You want to drive the audience easily without making them think about how to get from page to page.Of these two rules the underlining is the most important. Because many sites have begun using CSS to change the colors of their links users are getting more used to links not always being blue. But if you can make them blue then do it. If you absolutely can't work in the color blue with your scheme, that's OK, but you absolutely need those links underlined.2. Custom 404-redirectHave you ever navigated to a site or were clicking links within a site and were brought to a white screen with black text telling you the page can't be found? What's your first response. For most, they would simply to move on and find another site to go to. You can prevent many of those exits simply by customizing your 404 page. Take a look at this one here. Anyone getting a broken link on our site will remain on our site with all of our navigation options to choose from. Instead of bolting for the next site they will likely keep browsing the current site.The difference between a custom 404 page and the white page not found screen is like this: Say you’re in a large store and you can’t find a particular item. You find an employee to ask. The generic page-not-found employee would simply say “I’m not sure, sorry, I can’t help you,” and then returns to his business. T custom 404 employee would tell you “I know just where that is, follow me and I’ll show you.” It’s a big difference.Broken links are (or should be) rare, but they do happen, especially coming from external sites. While you have full control over internal links (more on this later) with external links to your site you have little, or no, control over. This makes it even more important to implement a custom 404 page. This is your best option to not lose that traffic that comes from an old or outdated link.3. Links in body contentI once have a version of my site where almost 100% of my internal links were via the navigation panes. It's always smart to have good navigation in your site, but this should not be your only source of linking to important pages. In fact, your body content should be littered with links to various pages of your site.If you talk about your team, link to your about us page. If you talk about your successes, link to your testimonials. If you talk about your services or specific products, link to them as well. The web is an interactive place and visitors want to click as they read something that interests them. If you rely solely on navigation links you are forcing your visitors to have to think about where they want to go next. Don't leave it up to them, tell them where they should go, give them various options, and provide the links so they can go there now.4. Visible phone numberThere are still a number of web users out there who prefer traditional forms of communication like the phone. While the web is interactive, it can often seem less personal. Especially if you don't know how long it will take for an email to get answered. When I want answers, I want them now. Placing your phone number visibly on your pages sends the message that you are available for your customers. They may not need to call you, but just knowing they can gives visitors that extra bit of confidence in your business.5. Fix typos and grammatical errorsNothing says amateur more than constant spelling and grammatical errors. Your words are a representation of who you are and how well your company will be able to fulfill the needs of your visitors. If your website has an overwhelming number of spelling and grammatical errors you're signaling to your visitors that you simply can't be bothered with the small things. But it's those small things that are so very important. Sales are won and lost on what is seemingly inconsequential.Spelling and grammar errors simply lack professionalism which supports credibility. Take the time to fix spelling errors and present a more professional appearance.6. Fix broken linksWe talked about using the 404 page to keep visitors on your site if they hit a bad link. While you can't always control external links to your site you should have 100% control of your site's internal links. Like spelling and grammar errors, broken links are simply unprofessional. Not only that, but what better way to force customers out the door than by clicking to a dead page? Run a regular broken link check on your site regularly especially if you regularly edit your site, add products, move pages, etc.7. Show prices and shipping infoI can't stand sites that bury their pricing information. While the price isn't the only factor when making a decision to purchase it is a significant one. If your visitors can't find product or service prices easily enough they'll likely move on to another site that does display them. Pricing should be considered part of the specifications for the product or service. Its just one additional piece of information that helps users determine quality, affordability and whether what you have is right for them.People don't want to be kept in the dark or have to click to every product individually just to get this information. If you have a product category page showing pictures of what you offer, give the pricing as well, it helps them to find for the right item. In your product pages you also want to include shipping information. This is another sticking point for many and if they see that shipping is cheap enough (before they add the product to the cart) then that can help you make the sale.8. About us pageNot only do you need an about us page but you also need to fill it with good information. Telling about your company is good, but your visitors also want to know about the people involved in the company. Adding this information provides a personal touch and lets people see the faces behind the screen.Use this space to let employees or managers to tell about their skills, experience and their interests. All of that plays a role in building confidence in your visitors. Giving potential customers the background of your team can ensure them that your team is capable of providing service or choosing the best quality products to sell. This reassurance is important.9. Calls to actionEvery page on your site needs to have at least one call to action. A call to action is simply a line of text or an image (and a link) that tells the visitors what they should do next. Typical calls to action are "Read more about...," "Add to cart," "Buy Now," "Read more testimonials," "See why we're #1, " “Sign up,” etc. Calls to action should drive the visitor from page to page or from page to checkout, depending on the situation. Visitors like to be told what to do, as long as they have the choice to do it or not. Calls to action give them both.10. Answer emails and phonesI am often surprised by how often I get told by prospective clients that I was the only company who followed up with an email or phone call. You would think being in business this would be a given, but it's not.Too many companies let their phone calls go to voice mail and don't return email messages in a timely manner. This is especially true with small businesses operating on the web. While these businesses are struggling to make ends meet they fail to realize that their inability to return messages or pick up the phone is one of the primary barriers to success. Even if success isn't a factor, many people are turned off by companies that simply don't get back to them or answer incoming calls. This is a negative impression that can easily be avoided.
http://www.protect-x.com/
posted by Maksim at 2:15 PM
5 comments
Hackers debut spam and virus sandwich
Visit a new Protect-X Sponsors section!
By John Leyden
Hackers have combined spam and malware together in a single email threat.
Email security services firm MessageLabs has intercepted emails that are both spam and links to download viruses. Cyber-criminals have long used email viruses to create botnets to send spam, but this is the first time MessageLabs has seen virus links hidden within spam.
Since 14 April, MessageLabs has stopped thousands of spam stock pump-and-dump emails which also contained links to websites hosting malware. Purporting to be a screen saver, the malware then drops the Zhelatin MeSpam engine onto compromised PCs.
Mark Sunner, chief security analyst at MessageLabs, commented: "Why use two emails when just one will do? Now we are seeing the bad guys layer on the threats – as if it's not enough to just scam someone and fill their inbox with junk email, why not also infect and take control of their computer at the same time."
"HTTP has replaced SMTP [email] as the path of least resistance," he added.
Stealth
Large scale virus outbreaks have almost become a thing of the past - hackers have increasingly sought to trick users into visiting websites containing malicious code rather than open infectious email attachments. This means that even as spam volumes increase, the volume of malware contaminated email is dropping.
MessageLabs reckons 83.6 per cent of email traffic circulating the internet in April was spam. Meanwhile, the global ratio of viruses in email traffic - from new and previously unknown bad sources destined for valid recipients - was one in 145.5 (0.69 percent), a decrease of 0.003 percent since March.
Email-based attacks are becoming more targeted. Last month MessageLabs intercepted 716 emails in 249 separate targeted attacks aimed at 216 different organisations. Of these, almost 200 were one-on-one targeted attacks where the tailored attack comprised a single email designed to infiltrate an organisation. Infected PowerPoint files are becoming almost as common as infected Word files. By comparison, only one or two such email attacks per day were recorded in the same period last year. ®
http://www.protect-x.com/
By John Leyden
Hackers have combined spam and malware together in a single email threat.
Email security services firm MessageLabs has intercepted emails that are both spam and links to download viruses. Cyber-criminals have long used email viruses to create botnets to send spam, but this is the first time MessageLabs has seen virus links hidden within spam.
Since 14 April, MessageLabs has stopped thousands of spam stock pump-and-dump emails which also contained links to websites hosting malware. Purporting to be a screen saver, the malware then drops the Zhelatin MeSpam engine onto compromised PCs.
Mark Sunner, chief security analyst at MessageLabs, commented: "Why use two emails when just one will do? Now we are seeing the bad guys layer on the threats – as if it's not enough to just scam someone and fill their inbox with junk email, why not also infect and take control of their computer at the same time."
"HTTP has replaced SMTP [email] as the path of least resistance," he added.
Stealth
Large scale virus outbreaks have almost become a thing of the past - hackers have increasingly sought to trick users into visiting websites containing malicious code rather than open infectious email attachments. This means that even as spam volumes increase, the volume of malware contaminated email is dropping.
MessageLabs reckons 83.6 per cent of email traffic circulating the internet in April was spam. Meanwhile, the global ratio of viruses in email traffic - from new and previously unknown bad sources destined for valid recipients - was one in 145.5 (0.69 percent), a decrease of 0.003 percent since March.
Email-based attacks are becoming more targeted. Last month MessageLabs intercepted 716 emails in 249 separate targeted attacks aimed at 216 different organisations. Of these, almost 200 were one-on-one targeted attacks where the tailored attack comprised a single email designed to infiltrate an organisation. Infected PowerPoint files are becoming almost as common as infected Word files. By comparison, only one or two such email attacks per day were recorded in the same period last year. ®
http://www.protect-x.com/
posted by Maksim at 1:42 PM
0 comments
RegisterFly fire sale at hand?
Visit a new Protect-X Sponsors section!
By Burke Hansen
Could troubled domain registrar RegisterFly be up for sale?
The Register has seen a copy of a letter of intent from Cogit, a technology-focused consulting group based in New Jersey, offering to buy out RegisterFly’s CEO and sole shareholder Kevin Medina for $1.15 mil. Whether or not Medina has indicated any interest in selling is another matter, and there is a continuing cloud of litigation over the struggling company that could hamper any attempted sale.
A federal court in California recently ordered RegisterFly to turn over all its registrant data to ICANN, the California nonprofit responsible for the accreditation of domain registrars worldwide. ICANN and RegisterFly are involved in an ongoing dispute over whether or not RegisterFly has lived up to the terms of its registrar agreement. ICANN recently revoked RegisterFly’s accreditation in response to an avalanche of customer complaints, and the two parties are currently in arbitration over RegisterFly’s status.
The letter of intent makes the sale contingent on Medina personally assuming liability for the company’s debts and liabilities, giving the Cogit Group a fresh start as owner. Paragraph 5 of the letter states: “Buyer shall not be obligated to assume any debts or liabilities of the Company.” Medina lives in Florida, which allows an unlimited asset exemption for equity in a primary residence; one can only assume that under this scenario Medina would be looking into bankruptcy protection, and $1.15 mil would be enough for a nice residential property, even in Miami Beach.
As of publication, calls to Cogit seeking comment had not been returned.
All of this could well be halted by court order, but sale of the registrar might not be such a bad thing for RegisterFly’s long-suffering customers. It could inject some welcome professionalism into the operation of the woefully mismanaged company, and possibly prevent its complete dissolution. Of course, the deal would have to move fast - the company would be worth less after it loses its accreditation, if that is the direction the arbitrator chooses to go. Ironically, it would also provide backdoor accreditation to yet another owner after ICANN has publicly cited accreditation through purchase as a principal cause of the RegisterFly debacle.
The Register has been somewhat skeptical of that assertion - it seems self-serving of ICANN to claim that if only it could have rejected RegisterFly’s application in the first place this would never have happened, when it took ICANN over a year to address the problem in any meaningful way, and even then only grudgingly after scathing public criticism. More meaningful reform would be to allow registrants to sue registrars individually as third party beneficiaries of ICANN’s Registrar Accreditation Agreement (RAA). That, combined with a stronger RAA, would provide the protection that registrants deserve.®
http://www.protect-x.com/
By Burke Hansen
Could troubled domain registrar RegisterFly be up for sale?
The Register has seen a copy of a letter of intent from Cogit, a technology-focused consulting group based in New Jersey, offering to buy out RegisterFly’s CEO and sole shareholder Kevin Medina for $1.15 mil. Whether or not Medina has indicated any interest in selling is another matter, and there is a continuing cloud of litigation over the struggling company that could hamper any attempted sale.
A federal court in California recently ordered RegisterFly to turn over all its registrant data to ICANN, the California nonprofit responsible for the accreditation of domain registrars worldwide. ICANN and RegisterFly are involved in an ongoing dispute over whether or not RegisterFly has lived up to the terms of its registrar agreement. ICANN recently revoked RegisterFly’s accreditation in response to an avalanche of customer complaints, and the two parties are currently in arbitration over RegisterFly’s status.
The letter of intent makes the sale contingent on Medina personally assuming liability for the company’s debts and liabilities, giving the Cogit Group a fresh start as owner. Paragraph 5 of the letter states: “Buyer shall not be obligated to assume any debts or liabilities of the Company.” Medina lives in Florida, which allows an unlimited asset exemption for equity in a primary residence; one can only assume that under this scenario Medina would be looking into bankruptcy protection, and $1.15 mil would be enough for a nice residential property, even in Miami Beach.
As of publication, calls to Cogit seeking comment had not been returned.
All of this could well be halted by court order, but sale of the registrar might not be such a bad thing for RegisterFly’s long-suffering customers. It could inject some welcome professionalism into the operation of the woefully mismanaged company, and possibly prevent its complete dissolution. Of course, the deal would have to move fast - the company would be worth less after it loses its accreditation, if that is the direction the arbitrator chooses to go. Ironically, it would also provide backdoor accreditation to yet another owner after ICANN has publicly cited accreditation through purchase as a principal cause of the RegisterFly debacle.
The Register has been somewhat skeptical of that assertion - it seems self-serving of ICANN to claim that if only it could have rejected RegisterFly’s application in the first place this would never have happened, when it took ICANN over a year to address the problem in any meaningful way, and even then only grudgingly after scathing public criticism. More meaningful reform would be to allow registrants to sue registrars individually as third party beneficiaries of ICANN’s Registrar Accreditation Agreement (RAA). That, combined with a stronger RAA, would provide the protection that registrants deserve.®
http://www.protect-x.com/
posted by Maksim at 1:15 PM
0 comments
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
Browser Wars Over, Browser Wars Start
Visit a new Protect-X Sponsors section!
by John Martellaro
The eternal search for new features and one-upmanship in Web Browsers has come to a close. Now, developers are focusing on Web 2.0 and the Browser as an application platform, according to Computerworld.
At the O'Reilly Web 2.0 Expo, developers of Internet Explorer, Firefox, Opera and Google Reader converged. The panel agreed that the time for one-upsmanship in cool Browser features is over, and the industry is now transitioning to the Browser as a basis for rich new generation of Internet-based applications. "We're moving from putting up [on the Web], 'Here are me, my mom and my cat' to 'Here is a rich application,'" said Charles McCathieNevile, chief standards officer at Opera Software ASA. "As the Web itself grew, you had these little communities building these cool things. The explosion was enough that these little communities were running into each other. As the Web has become a really big platform to build on were seeing a lot of sharing that wasn't happening before."
That brings up the issue of security. Browsers have to work hard to create a moat between the Internet and the user's file system. As Browsers become the mediator of applications, the job gets tougher.
"When you use JavaScript as it is used today, it is very hard for browsers to optimize," Brendan Elch, chief architect of Mozilla said. "If you're going to have [a Web] application crash ... you are in trouble because that can be exploited as a security hole."
In fact, a suitable architecture for security may just not yet exist. That's sure to trigger a new round of feature wars.
TMO notes that in terms of the old Browser feature wars for the user, there may still be some room for fresh thinking left.
http://www.protect-x.com/
by John Martellaro
The eternal search for new features and one-upmanship in Web Browsers has come to a close. Now, developers are focusing on Web 2.0 and the Browser as an application platform, according to Computerworld.
At the O'Reilly Web 2.0 Expo, developers of Internet Explorer, Firefox, Opera and Google Reader converged. The panel agreed that the time for one-upsmanship in cool Browser features is over, and the industry is now transitioning to the Browser as a basis for rich new generation of Internet-based applications. "We're moving from putting up [on the Web], 'Here are me, my mom and my cat' to 'Here is a rich application,'" said Charles McCathieNevile, chief standards officer at Opera Software ASA. "As the Web itself grew, you had these little communities building these cool things. The explosion was enough that these little communities were running into each other. As the Web has become a really big platform to build on were seeing a lot of sharing that wasn't happening before."
That brings up the issue of security. Browsers have to work hard to create a moat between the Internet and the user's file system. As Browsers become the mediator of applications, the job gets tougher.
"When you use JavaScript as it is used today, it is very hard for browsers to optimize," Brendan Elch, chief architect of Mozilla said. "If you're going to have [a Web] application crash ... you are in trouble because that can be exploited as a security hole."
In fact, a suitable architecture for security may just not yet exist. That's sure to trigger a new round of feature wars.
TMO notes that in terms of the old Browser feature wars for the user, there may still be some room for fresh thinking left.
http://www.protect-x.com/
posted by Maksim at 2:35 PM
0 comments
Google Sidelines Adult From AdSense Program
Visit a new Protect-X Sponsors section!
By Ken Knox
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. - Ending weeks of speculation, Google on Monday announced it would be implementing a new policy that would disallow adult domains in its AdSense for Domains (AFD) program.
Defining websites as "any domain whose name, content or advertising is lewd, graphic, or profane," Google stated that AdSense customers with adult domains are required to remove them from the AFD program by May 31.
According to an email sent by Google to its customers, the company additionally "will provide amendments to contracts to exclude adult domains from the exclusivity clause."
At press time, Google had not responded to requests for comment, but the email did state that, "[W]e at Google are constantly working to improve the experiences of advertisers, users and AdSense partners. This change brings our AdSense for Domains program more in line with our AdSense for Content program and will also increase the attractiveness of the AdSense for Domains network for advertisers. Greater satisfaction with the AFD network will lead to more advertisers on the network, providing users with a better experience and domain owners with improved monetization."
Although rumors of the impending decision had been circulating on adult forum GoFuckYourself, the news came as a shock to the industry.
"It really took everybody by surprise," commented GEC Media President Greg Dumas, who also owns and manages several large adult domains that received traffic from the AdSense program. "When you hear those rumors, you think, 'Maybe it'll happen in a year, two years.' No one figured six weeks.
"This is a death sentence for a lot of domainers," Dumas went on to say. "It's going to have a twofold effect: All of the people who were buying those ads that the domain traffic was going to…their advertising is going to be affected. They're going to lose a lot of traffic. And, the people who had domains—such as myself—are going to see a drop in revenue."
"It's definitely going to be a major shake-up in the parked-domain industry," said Sevan Derderian, senior account executive at Domain Sponsor, a leading parked-domain monetization company. "A lot of people have invested most recently in some sizeable adult portfolios, and now they're going to be sore about making that choice. There are going to be some repercussions on sales. Now you'll need to look another parking alternative that will take [adult domains]."
Both men predicted that adult-domain holders will bounce back from the setback, however.
"I don't see this as being the end of our business, but it will significantly impact it," Dumas said. "It's such a big marketplace that other people will step up [in Google's place]. Adult traffic is a lot. What I think is that people are going to find an immediate home for their traffic. You just have to hope they optimize and get the same kind of results that Google did."
For his part, Derderian said such a shakedown actually could prove to be a boon for the industry. "It's probably going to be better for people who point their domain traffic to the affiliate programs," he told AVNOnline.com, "because the ones who were pointing traffic to Google and monetizing and getting paid will now have no choice other than to point [traffic] to adult affiliate programs."
Derderian said he predicts Yahoo eventually will follow suit with Google's decision, although he said, "We can't say for sure without the crystal ball."
Yahoo could not be reached at press time.
Dumas also said the development would encourage domain holders to become creative. "I'm a veteran of the adult business, and I've been hit with stuff like this before," he commented. "You just have to step back and square your shoulders and move forward. I think the secret to longevity in this business is your ability to handle situations like this. I mean, if you get kicked in the teeth, you go to the dentist and get new teeth put in and keep chewing."
http://www.protect-x.com/
By Ken Knox
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. - Ending weeks of speculation, Google on Monday announced it would be implementing a new policy that would disallow adult domains in its AdSense for Domains (AFD) program.
Defining websites as "any domain whose name, content or advertising is lewd, graphic, or profane," Google stated that AdSense customers with adult domains are required to remove them from the AFD program by May 31.
According to an email sent by Google to its customers, the company additionally "will provide amendments to contracts to exclude adult domains from the exclusivity clause."
At press time, Google had not responded to requests for comment, but the email did state that, "[W]e at Google are constantly working to improve the experiences of advertisers, users and AdSense partners. This change brings our AdSense for Domains program more in line with our AdSense for Content program and will also increase the attractiveness of the AdSense for Domains network for advertisers. Greater satisfaction with the AFD network will lead to more advertisers on the network, providing users with a better experience and domain owners with improved monetization."
Although rumors of the impending decision had been circulating on adult forum GoFuckYourself, the news came as a shock to the industry.
"It really took everybody by surprise," commented GEC Media President Greg Dumas, who also owns and manages several large adult domains that received traffic from the AdSense program. "When you hear those rumors, you think, 'Maybe it'll happen in a year, two years.' No one figured six weeks.
"This is a death sentence for a lot of domainers," Dumas went on to say. "It's going to have a twofold effect: All of the people who were buying those ads that the domain traffic was going to…their advertising is going to be affected. They're going to lose a lot of traffic. And, the people who had domains—such as myself—are going to see a drop in revenue."
"It's definitely going to be a major shake-up in the parked-domain industry," said Sevan Derderian, senior account executive at Domain Sponsor, a leading parked-domain monetization company. "A lot of people have invested most recently in some sizeable adult portfolios, and now they're going to be sore about making that choice. There are going to be some repercussions on sales. Now you'll need to look another parking alternative that will take [adult domains]."
Both men predicted that adult-domain holders will bounce back from the setback, however.
"I don't see this as being the end of our business, but it will significantly impact it," Dumas said. "It's such a big marketplace that other people will step up [in Google's place]. Adult traffic is a lot. What I think is that people are going to find an immediate home for their traffic. You just have to hope they optimize and get the same kind of results that Google did."
For his part, Derderian said such a shakedown actually could prove to be a boon for the industry. "It's probably going to be better for people who point their domain traffic to the affiliate programs," he told AVNOnline.com, "because the ones who were pointing traffic to Google and monetizing and getting paid will now have no choice other than to point [traffic] to adult affiliate programs."
Derderian said he predicts Yahoo eventually will follow suit with Google's decision, although he said, "We can't say for sure without the crystal ball."
Yahoo could not be reached at press time.
Dumas also said the development would encourage domain holders to become creative. "I'm a veteran of the adult business, and I've been hit with stuff like this before," he commented. "You just have to step back and square your shoulders and move forward. I think the secret to longevity in this business is your ability to handle situations like this. I mean, if you get kicked in the teeth, you go to the dentist and get new teeth put in and keep chewing."
http://www.protect-x.com/
posted by Maksim at 2:32 PM
0 comments
Requesting removal of content from Google index
Visit a new Protect-X Sponsors section!
Posted by Vanessa Fox
As a site owner, you control what content of your site is indexed in search engines. The easiest way to let search engines know what content you don't want indexed is to use a robots.txt file or robots meta tag. But sometimes, you want to remove content that's already been indexed. What's the best way to do that?As always, the answer begins: it depends on the type of content that you want to remove. Our webmaster help center provides detailed information about each situation. Once we recrawl that page, we'll remove the content from our index automatically. But if you'd like to expedite the removal rather than wait for the next crawl, the way to do that has just gotten easier.For sites that you've verified ownership for in your webmaster tools account, you'll now see a new option under the Diagnostic tab called URL Removals. To get started, simply click the URL Removals link, then New Removal Request. Choose the option that matches the type of removal you'd like.Individual URLsChoose this option if you'd like to remove a URL or image. In order for the URL to be eligible for removal, one of the following must be true:
The URL most return a status code of either 404 or 410.
The URL must be blocked by the site's robots.txt file.
The URL must be blocked by a robots meta tag.Once the URL is ready for removal, enter the URL and indicate whether it appears in our web search results or image search results. Then click Add. You can add up to 100 URLs in a single request. Once you've added all the URLs you would like removed, click Submit Removal Request.A directoryChoose this option if you'd like to remove all files and folders within a directory on your site. For instance, if you request removal of the following:http://www.example.com/myfolderthis will remove all URLs that begin with that path, such as:http://www.example.com/myfolderhttp://www.example.com/myfolder/page1.htmlhttp://www.example.com/myfolder/images/image.jpgIn order for a directory to be eligible for removal , you must block it using a robots.txt file. For instance, for the example above, http://www.example.com/robots.txt could include the following:User-agent: GooglebotDisallow: /myfolderYour entire siteChoose this option only if you want to remove your entire site from the Google index. This option will remove all subdirectories and files. Do not use this option to remove the non-preferred version of your site's URLs from being indexed. For instance, if you want all of your URLs indexed using the www version, don't use this tool to request removal of the non-www version. Instead, specify the version you want indexed using the Preferred domain tool (and do a 301 redirect to the preferred version, if possible). To use this option, you must block the site using a robots.txt file.Cached copiesChoose this option to remove cached copies of pages in our index. You have two options for making pages eligible for cache removal.Using a meta noarchive tag and requesting expedited removalIf you don't want the page cached at all, you can add a meta noarchive tag to the page and then request expedited cache removal using this tool. By requesting removal using this tool, we'll remove the cached copy right away, and by adding the meta noarchive tag, we will never include the cached version. (If you change your mind later, you can remove the meta noarchive tag. )Changing the page contentIf you want to remove the cached version of a page because it contained content that you've removed and don't want indexed, you can request the cache removal here. We'll check to see that the content on the live page is different from the cached version and if so, we'll remove the cached version. We'll automatically make the latest cached version of the page available again after six months (and at that point, we likely will have recrawled the page and the cached version will reflect the latest content) or, if you see that we've recrawled the page sooner than that, you can request that we reinclude the cached version sooner using this tool.Checking the status of removal requestsRemoval requests show as pending until they have been processed, at which point, the status changes to either Denied or Removed. Generally, a request is denied if it doesn't meet the eligibility criteria for removal.To reinclude contentIf a request is successful, it appears in the Removed Content tab and you can reinclude it any time simply by removing the robots.txt or robots meta tag block and clicking Reinclude. Otherwise, we'll exclude the content for six months. After that six month period, if the content is still blocked or returns at 404 or 410 status message and we've recrawled the page, it won't be reincluded in our index. However, if the page is available to our crawlers after this six month period, we'll once again include it in our index.Requesting removal of content you don't ownBut what if you want to request removal of content that's located on a site that you don't own? It's just gotten easier to do that as well. Our new Webpage removal request tool steps through the process for each type of removal request.Since Google indexes the web and doesn't control the content on web pages, we generally can't remove results from our index unless the webmaster has blocked or modified the content or removed the page. If you would like content removed, you can work with the site owner to do so, and then use this tool to expedite the removal from our search results.If you have found search results that contain specific types of personal information, you can request removal even if you've been unable to work with the site owner. For this type of removal, provide your email address so we can work with you directly.If you have found search results that shouldn't be returned with SafeSearch enabled, you can let us know using this tool as well.You can check on the status of pending requests, and as with the version available in webmaster tools, the status will change to Removed or Denied once it's been processed. Generally, the request is denied if it doesn't meet the eligibility criteria. For requests that involve personal information, you won't see the status available here, but will instead receive an email with more information about next steps.What about the existing URL removal tool?If you've made previous requests with this tool, you can still log in to check on the status of those requests. However, make any new requests with this new and improved version of the tool.
http://www.protect-x.com/
Posted by Vanessa Fox
As a site owner, you control what content of your site is indexed in search engines. The easiest way to let search engines know what content you don't want indexed is to use a robots.txt file or robots meta tag. But sometimes, you want to remove content that's already been indexed. What's the best way to do that?As always, the answer begins: it depends on the type of content that you want to remove. Our webmaster help center provides detailed information about each situation. Once we recrawl that page, we'll remove the content from our index automatically. But if you'd like to expedite the removal rather than wait for the next crawl, the way to do that has just gotten easier.For sites that you've verified ownership for in your webmaster tools account, you'll now see a new option under the Diagnostic tab called URL Removals. To get started, simply click the URL Removals link, then New Removal Request. Choose the option that matches the type of removal you'd like.Individual URLsChoose this option if you'd like to remove a URL or image. In order for the URL to be eligible for removal, one of the following must be true:
The URL most return a status code of either 404 or 410.
The URL must be blocked by the site's robots.txt file.
The URL must be blocked by a robots meta tag.Once the URL is ready for removal, enter the URL and indicate whether it appears in our web search results or image search results. Then click Add. You can add up to 100 URLs in a single request. Once you've added all the URLs you would like removed, click Submit Removal Request.A directoryChoose this option if you'd like to remove all files and folders within a directory on your site. For instance, if you request removal of the following:http://www.example.com/myfolderthis will remove all URLs that begin with that path, such as:http://www.example.com/myfolderhttp://www.example.com/myfolder/page1.htmlhttp://www.example.com/myfolder/images/image.jpgIn order for a directory to be eligible for removal , you must block it using a robots.txt file. For instance, for the example above, http://www.example.com/robots.txt could include the following:User-agent: GooglebotDisallow: /myfolderYour entire siteChoose this option only if you want to remove your entire site from the Google index. This option will remove all subdirectories and files. Do not use this option to remove the non-preferred version of your site's URLs from being indexed. For instance, if you want all of your URLs indexed using the www version, don't use this tool to request removal of the non-www version. Instead, specify the version you want indexed using the Preferred domain tool (and do a 301 redirect to the preferred version, if possible). To use this option, you must block the site using a robots.txt file.Cached copiesChoose this option to remove cached copies of pages in our index. You have two options for making pages eligible for cache removal.Using a meta noarchive tag and requesting expedited removalIf you don't want the page cached at all, you can add a meta noarchive tag to the page and then request expedited cache removal using this tool. By requesting removal using this tool, we'll remove the cached copy right away, and by adding the meta noarchive tag, we will never include the cached version. (If you change your mind later, you can remove the meta noarchive tag. )Changing the page contentIf you want to remove the cached version of a page because it contained content that you've removed and don't want indexed, you can request the cache removal here. We'll check to see that the content on the live page is different from the cached version and if so, we'll remove the cached version. We'll automatically make the latest cached version of the page available again after six months (and at that point, we likely will have recrawled the page and the cached version will reflect the latest content) or, if you see that we've recrawled the page sooner than that, you can request that we reinclude the cached version sooner using this tool.Checking the status of removal requestsRemoval requests show as pending until they have been processed, at which point, the status changes to either Denied or Removed. Generally, a request is denied if it doesn't meet the eligibility criteria for removal.To reinclude contentIf a request is successful, it appears in the Removed Content tab and you can reinclude it any time simply by removing the robots.txt or robots meta tag block and clicking Reinclude. Otherwise, we'll exclude the content for six months. After that six month period, if the content is still blocked or returns at 404 or 410 status message and we've recrawled the page, it won't be reincluded in our index. However, if the page is available to our crawlers after this six month period, we'll once again include it in our index.Requesting removal of content you don't ownBut what if you want to request removal of content that's located on a site that you don't own? It's just gotten easier to do that as well. Our new Webpage removal request tool steps through the process for each type of removal request.Since Google indexes the web and doesn't control the content on web pages, we generally can't remove results from our index unless the webmaster has blocked or modified the content or removed the page. If you would like content removed, you can work with the site owner to do so, and then use this tool to expedite the removal from our search results.If you have found search results that contain specific types of personal information, you can request removal even if you've been unable to work with the site owner. For this type of removal, provide your email address so we can work with you directly.If you have found search results that shouldn't be returned with SafeSearch enabled, you can let us know using this tool as well.You can check on the status of pending requests, and as with the version available in webmaster tools, the status will change to Removed or Denied once it's been processed. Generally, the request is denied if it doesn't meet the eligibility criteria. For requests that involve personal information, you won't see the status available here, but will instead receive an email with more information about next steps.What about the existing URL removal tool?If you've made previous requests with this tool, you can still log in to check on the status of those requests. However, make any new requests with this new and improved version of the tool.
http://www.protect-x.com/
posted by Maksim at 2:08 PM
0 comments
Monday, April 16, 2007
Advanced Link Building: Hosted Content
Visit a new Protect-X Sponsors section!
by Frederick Townes
Ask Google, search engines love links. Of course, they love some links more than others. For example, a simple link exchange (reciprocal link) doesn't have as much value to search engines and so, it doesn't receive the same weight as a non-reciprocal (one-way) link – the theory being that a one-way, in-bound link is a recommendation from a site owner to visit this linked site. The link, itself, is testament to the quality of the site being referred.Article SyndicationIn recent years, many sites have employed article syndication to develop links. These site owners write (or have written) articles of interest to a particular audience. The site owners then offer these articles to other relevant sites free in exchange for a link back to the originator of the content in the "about the author" section of the article. In this way, a single site owner can submit dozens of articles for syndication receiving an inbound link from each article in return for the free use of content. They can also watch other sites post the content virally to keep their sites fresh, as well.Sites need fresh content so many will happily display your article and provide a link to your site. It's a tried and true link building tactic. However, search engines are programmed to seek out the most natural, and therefore valuable, links they can find.The way articles are syndicated is through sites like goarticles.com and ezinearticles.com. The standard format for the display of the article is: headline, article body followed by a small blurb about the author with a link back to the author's site. Since those links appear in the body of the page, they appear to be more valuable in comparison to most purchased or reciprocal links which often appear at the bottom of a page column, or in the footer surrounded by lots of other links – somewhat effective, but not necessarily the best way to acquire inbound links.In addition, syndication leads to duplication when a single article appears on 10 sites all at the same time. This diminishes the quality of the text and the back link to the author's site. It's still more valuable than a plain link exchange, but search engines are placing less emphasis on syndicated content. So, what's a site owner to do?Hosted Web ContentIt goes by many different names: content swapping, advertorials, pre-sell pages and hosted content – all basically the same idea.The way hosted content works is that you, the author, pay a site owner to display your article. However, now, instead of the back links to your site coming at the end of the article, you embed those links in the body of the text surrounded by your target keywords and actually useful content for the reader. In the "eyes" of a search engine, this is among the highest valued back link.Hosted content is basically renting a page on another site with links to your site embedded in the main body of the article. The web site that hosts the content receives payment from the author plus fresh content, the author gets a valuable back link and visitors to the hosting site get useful content.This strategy isn't new. It's simply doing what search engines want us to do – produce content that's useful, beneficial and appears on quality sites. Not only does a quality piece of content receive more visibility when hosted on an authoritative site, it also delivers increased benefit to the author, and the page may even rank itself for target key phrases. When a major site hosts your content, you gain from its page rank in strong testimonials and referrals. Whether or not the site owners want to monetize their site by allowing approved authors to post content is the same debate as whether or not links should be bought and sold. However, publishing high quality, unique and useful content, rather than just creating inflated link popularity with diminishing returns, is, in comparison, a tested SEO tactic.Designing a Hosted Content PageYou're paying for the placement of this content so you want it to be good. In the eternal quest for successful link bait, you also want the content to be ranked by search engines because it provides real value to the reader and is hosted on an authoritative site.Design the hosted content page using standard SEO conventions: a keyword savvy title, header h1, subheads h2 and a keyword density of less than 5%. Any higher and search engines may consider the content to be "spamish" regardless of where the content appears.Now comes the most important part. As you write the article, carefully place links to topically relevant pages on your own site within the body of the article's text. These are high value links that will improve your SEO. However, it's also important to place your articles on sites that are topically related to your piece (and probably already rank for related topics). The authority of the site hosting your content, the relevance of the site (topically speaking) and that back link make your site look stronger as far as search engines are concerned. Also, remember that the quality of the content to which you link also matters. Link to strong pages (those with quality back links) on your site, as well. Your article should reference other authoritative, relevant articles so that search engines see that your piece was written to offer real value to readers.It's Not Quantity, It's QualityIt's no longer simply a matter of how many links point to a site. There are many cases of sites in which 50 quality links outrank sites with hundreds of links. It's not quantity, it's the quality of the links that improve ranking in the SERPs.Editorial links (links in hosted content) are more "natural" from a search engine's perspective and, therefore, more valuable because the article has, at most, two or three targeted links pointing to your site's pages. Just like quality link bait, which is unique, original and useful content, quality hosted content on respected sites will also naturally develop its own back links - the ultimate validation and the desired outcome of placing quality content. Finally, because these links are found on pages optimized with your keywords, search engines will consider them extremely relevant to the subject at hand.Start Your Hosted Content Campaign TodayIt's being done everyday, successfully building small sites into larger sites, providing free advertising for the thought-leader/author, delivering less duplicate content to search engines and more new content (plus revenue) to the hosting site and, perhaps most importantly, hosted content actually delivers useful, relevant information to readers – exactly what search engines rank in the first place. As with any link-building technique, hosted content can be abused, but topically authoritative sites are not going to accept content that does not meet their high standards – so everyone wins when the goals are white hat.Start searching for websites that might be interested in hosting your next article, or start looking for a site owner interested in content swapping. Create content that's unique, useful and well-written and you may find that you won't even have to pay a site owner to share your content with their readers – exactly how it should be.
http://www.protect-x.com/
by Frederick Townes
Ask Google, search engines love links. Of course, they love some links more than others. For example, a simple link exchange (reciprocal link) doesn't have as much value to search engines and so, it doesn't receive the same weight as a non-reciprocal (one-way) link – the theory being that a one-way, in-bound link is a recommendation from a site owner to visit this linked site. The link, itself, is testament to the quality of the site being referred.Article SyndicationIn recent years, many sites have employed article syndication to develop links. These site owners write (or have written) articles of interest to a particular audience. The site owners then offer these articles to other relevant sites free in exchange for a link back to the originator of the content in the "about the author" section of the article. In this way, a single site owner can submit dozens of articles for syndication receiving an inbound link from each article in return for the free use of content. They can also watch other sites post the content virally to keep their sites fresh, as well.Sites need fresh content so many will happily display your article and provide a link to your site. It's a tried and true link building tactic. However, search engines are programmed to seek out the most natural, and therefore valuable, links they can find.The way articles are syndicated is through sites like goarticles.com and ezinearticles.com. The standard format for the display of the article is: headline, article body followed by a small blurb about the author with a link back to the author's site. Since those links appear in the body of the page, they appear to be more valuable in comparison to most purchased or reciprocal links which often appear at the bottom of a page column, or in the footer surrounded by lots of other links – somewhat effective, but not necessarily the best way to acquire inbound links.In addition, syndication leads to duplication when a single article appears on 10 sites all at the same time. This diminishes the quality of the text and the back link to the author's site. It's still more valuable than a plain link exchange, but search engines are placing less emphasis on syndicated content. So, what's a site owner to do?Hosted Web ContentIt goes by many different names: content swapping, advertorials, pre-sell pages and hosted content – all basically the same idea.The way hosted content works is that you, the author, pay a site owner to display your article. However, now, instead of the back links to your site coming at the end of the article, you embed those links in the body of the text surrounded by your target keywords and actually useful content for the reader. In the "eyes" of a search engine, this is among the highest valued back link.Hosted content is basically renting a page on another site with links to your site embedded in the main body of the article. The web site that hosts the content receives payment from the author plus fresh content, the author gets a valuable back link and visitors to the hosting site get useful content.This strategy isn't new. It's simply doing what search engines want us to do – produce content that's useful, beneficial and appears on quality sites. Not only does a quality piece of content receive more visibility when hosted on an authoritative site, it also delivers increased benefit to the author, and the page may even rank itself for target key phrases. When a major site hosts your content, you gain from its page rank in strong testimonials and referrals. Whether or not the site owners want to monetize their site by allowing approved authors to post content is the same debate as whether or not links should be bought and sold. However, publishing high quality, unique and useful content, rather than just creating inflated link popularity with diminishing returns, is, in comparison, a tested SEO tactic.Designing a Hosted Content PageYou're paying for the placement of this content so you want it to be good. In the eternal quest for successful link bait, you also want the content to be ranked by search engines because it provides real value to the reader and is hosted on an authoritative site.Design the hosted content page using standard SEO conventions: a keyword savvy title, header h1, subheads h2 and a keyword density of less than 5%. Any higher and search engines may consider the content to be "spamish" regardless of where the content appears.Now comes the most important part. As you write the article, carefully place links to topically relevant pages on your own site within the body of the article's text. These are high value links that will improve your SEO. However, it's also important to place your articles on sites that are topically related to your piece (and probably already rank for related topics). The authority of the site hosting your content, the relevance of the site (topically speaking) and that back link make your site look stronger as far as search engines are concerned. Also, remember that the quality of the content to which you link also matters. Link to strong pages (those with quality back links) on your site, as well. Your article should reference other authoritative, relevant articles so that search engines see that your piece was written to offer real value to readers.It's Not Quantity, It's QualityIt's no longer simply a matter of how many links point to a site. There are many cases of sites in which 50 quality links outrank sites with hundreds of links. It's not quantity, it's the quality of the links that improve ranking in the SERPs.Editorial links (links in hosted content) are more "natural" from a search engine's perspective and, therefore, more valuable because the article has, at most, two or three targeted links pointing to your site's pages. Just like quality link bait, which is unique, original and useful content, quality hosted content on respected sites will also naturally develop its own back links - the ultimate validation and the desired outcome of placing quality content. Finally, because these links are found on pages optimized with your keywords, search engines will consider them extremely relevant to the subject at hand.Start Your Hosted Content Campaign TodayIt's being done everyday, successfully building small sites into larger sites, providing free advertising for the thought-leader/author, delivering less duplicate content to search engines and more new content (plus revenue) to the hosting site and, perhaps most importantly, hosted content actually delivers useful, relevant information to readers – exactly what search engines rank in the first place. As with any link-building technique, hosted content can be abused, but topically authoritative sites are not going to accept content that does not meet their high standards – so everyone wins when the goals are white hat.Start searching for websites that might be interested in hosting your next article, or start looking for a site owner interested in content swapping. Create content that's unique, useful and well-written and you may find that you won't even have to pay a site owner to share your content with their readers – exactly how it should be.
http://www.protect-x.com/
posted by Maksim at 2:59 PM
0 comments
Interview with Adam Lasnik of Google
Visit a new Protect-X Sponsors section!
by Lee Odden
One of the fun things about being involved with the search marketing industry is getting to meet really bright and interesting people. Whether they are long time SEO gurus, CEO’s of fast growing corporations or employees of the major search engines, this industry rarely disappoints with its variety of perspectives.With the majority of search market share, most webmasters pay a significant amount of attention to Google. Google has done an increasingly good job of interacting with the webmaster community through the efforts of Matt Cutts and Vanessa Fox as well as Adam Lasnik. After having the chance to talk to Adam, I thought he and his job sounded pretty interesting and he agreed to do a short interview.This interview clarifies Adam’s role with Google as well as some of the most common webmaster questions/issues, his thoughts on the common sense of site optimization (think about the user!), long but satisfying days at the Googleplex, the Google Webmaster Help Group, the increasingly important role of Google Base and his thoughts on SEO certification.Note: with the exception of one link to Matt Cutts’ blog, all links were added by me.Tell us about how you became a Google employee. What was involved with getting “recruited” by Matt Cutts?I’ve been a fan of Google for quite some time, even writing up a “how to Google” tips article in early 2000 for a former employer’s internal newsletter. Also, many of my friends have worked at Google since the early days, and I was impressed by what they shared about the corporate culture. Amazing amounts of trust, freedom, and goodwill.I was particularly intrigued by the idea of strengthening communications between Googlers and Google users, amongst groups of Googlers, and so on. As a happy coincidence, Matt and the Search Quality group had been increasingly interested in extending these sorts of conversations as well, and so you might say we sort of found each other.Matt’s detailed the situation a bit more here: “Better Conversations“So there’s not much more for me to add. But about eight months later, I can say that it’s been a great fit and I’m really pleased things worked out the way they did.Please explain the webmaster liaison work you do. What sorts of questions annoy you the most? (besides that one) What have been some of the more rewarding interactions?I think there’s a misconception that my main role is “getting out there”? meeting with Webmasters, giving answers, solving specific problems, and so on. While — as someone who was Webmastering even back in’95 — I do enjoy the external aspects of my job, I think the most powerful part of what I do is internal. I’d say about 20% of my job involves interacting with Webmasters, SEOs, geeks, and even non-geeks at conferences, online, and otherwise. The remaining 80% is where the talk is translated into action. I am blessed with colleagues who care deeply about search and also about Webmasters; some of them are pretty well-known in the Webmaster community (including Vanessa, and — of course — Matt). But countless others work behind the scenes? the crawl folks, the Googlers working on indexing, and so on. I’m confident that I’m helping Webmasters most when I’m tackling both the urgent as well as important-but-long-term issues with my teammates, serving as both a Webmaster advocate and facilitator internally.As for what questions annoy me the most? There aren’t any specific ones that I find particularly frustrating. Rather, I do occasionally grow weary with two types of questions:1. Questions that are clearly answered in our much-improved Webmaster Central, via a quick search of our Webmaster Help group, or questions that would also be likely answered via use of our Webmaster Tools. There’s no such thing as a stupid question, IMHO, but lazy questions? well, that’s a different story.2. Accusatory “questions.” I suppose I need to get some thicker skin, but it stings when people imply that we either don’t care or — worse — that a relationship between Webmasters and Google must inherently be adversarial. Every time I’ve spoken with Larry Page and Marissa Mayer they’ve made it unequivocally clear that being mindful of Webmaster concerns is something resonating not just in Search Quality, but from the very top of Google.And thankfully, most of my interactions — with Googlers and Webmasters — have been decidedly positive. I got some incredible insights when I visited my colleagues in Dublin, Ireland (our European headquarters) as well as various Webmasters / Google users throughout Europe, all of whom offered thoughtfully global perspectives on search. Closer to home, I’ve especially enjoyed chatting with Webmasters and IT folks from non-profit organizations; these are people who often lack the resources to delve into the world of SEO, can’t even afford a week to schmooze at a conference. It’s made me think about how we (Google and all of us passionate about search) can most scalably and responsibly spread knowledge, and broadly share best search and user-experience practices in this area.What are some of the most common issues that you’ve heard from Webmasters in terms of problems with ranking on Google? What are some of the most common solutions?The two most common concerns we hear are:
Hey, all or most of my pages aren’t in your index! And
My site’s not ranking as high as I’d like or for the keywords it should show up for.In the first case, the sites at issue tend to be relatively new, or have so few meaningful backlinks as to be practically invisible. In a few instances, the sites violate or have recently violated our Webmaster Guidelines. The solutions involve patience and/or responsible networking to garner at least a few good links. Or, when violations are an issue, then cleaning up the problem and filing a reinclusion request is the way to go.In the second case, ranking can quite often be improved via either making one’s site more accessible / user-friendly (clearer titles, cleaner navigation) or — in a broader sense — by making the site more interesting or useful or entertaining to make for a better user experience.Lastly, I think our FAQ on creating a Google-friendly site in particular can address many Webmaster concerns and questions both in the initial stages of making a site and also in troubleshooting.The last time we talked, you mentioned that Google Base will play a more active role with information supplied in search results. You also mentioned that the line between the various Google services is becoming more fluid. Can you elaborate on that?Sure. This is in line with our Google-wide push towards fewer products, more functionality and power per product. You’ve probably noticed that we took the search box off the Base page; that’s because we figure consumers would prefer doing one search instead of two. On the whole, we want to make it easier for folks to get information into Google and, of course, easier for users to find information with the least amount of effort. Another example of this is our Onebox, the “teaser” at the top of many search results pages that shows related images, Google Groups messages, and so on. Again, it’s about getting as much relevant information to the user in the most expedient and useful way.Can you describe some ideal applications of Google Base for web site owners? How about some that are not so obvious?I think Base is great for any individual or company that has a large amount of structured (and, perhaps often-changing) information that they’d like to share. Obvious (and currently present) data sets include real estate listings and recipes. I’d love to see some quirkier-but-still-useful applications, though. Maybe hiking trail information by city region, or broad sets of nutrition information of common foods?? In the meantime, folks who want to get more familiar with Base can check out our Base quick facts and related info.Anyone who relies on search engines for their online marketing would love to spend time getting “inside” information from Google Engineers and those “in the know” about how Google ranks web pages and other media. Since that’s unlikely, outside of Engineer availability at the annual Google Dance, what resources would you recommend for webmasters in terms of understanding search engines as a marketing tool and for learning about specific tactics?I’m going to have to give the anti-answer to this one. I think learning tactics, per se, is sort of self-defeating; I know I can’t keep up with all the nuances of our algorithms because various teams are always updating them. Furthermore, if a particular tactic is likely to annoy or raise eyebrows for you or your customers, it’s likely to be exactly the sort of thing that our engineers will add as a negative signal in our algorithms. Hence, in the end — as cliched as it might sound — it really IS best to think like a user.Along those lines? do focus groups. I mean, even simple ones. Grab your dad. Your next door neighbor. Watch them navigate through your site, preferably on an older browser or slower computer, maybe even on dialup. It’s amazing (albeit sometimes painful) what you can learn by just watching, not judging. One of our key engineers pointedly debates features and defaults in our products based upon what frustrates her Mom, and while quantitative data drives decisions at the end of the day, these examples often really help shape the way we view search quality.So, okay, maybe these things fall under the heading of common sense, and so for a more “insider” view of how we think at the Plex, I’d recommend participating in our Webmaster Help Group. Sprinkled frequently throughout the many threads you’ll find some damn good insights from other Webmasters, along with input from me, Vanessa, and other Googlers. It’s our aim to help steer the community in the right directions; we can only feasibly participate in a small fraction of threads, but over time I’m confident that best practices will be emphasized and increasingly valuable information will shine through.Can you describe what a typical day is like for you working in the Googleplex?Wow, that’s a toughie. As we often joke, there’s rarely a “typical” day, certainly not a dull day here. I dutifully created a detailed project/to-do list months ago, and though I do find it important to keep my eyes on long term goals, I am amazed and often amused by how much crazy stuff comes up each day.But on the whole, I’d say a typical day consists of lots of internal collaboration (in person or via e-mail or internal Google docs), and also informal alpha testing of new products, visiting a large set of forums, blogs and other online publications, and preparing for or attending interviews or conferences.The collaboration is most noteworthy, IMHO, because it’s practically devoid of grandstanding, politicking, or buck-passing. Most positively, the level of empowerment here is pretty uniquely high, I believe, so when folks bring up an idea for improving something, they can often just go and do it themselves. Of course, that can also be a bit daunting sometimes, too.What’s surprising to me, I think, is the change in my thinking about work/life delineations. I’m still pretty firmly clinging to my own blog as my personal space, so I don’t think you should expect to see Googlisms there in the near future. But timewise? it’s not uncommon for me to leave for work on the Google shuttle at 8:15am and get home at 9pm or later. Previously, I’d have frowned upon that as “workaholism,” but given the diversity of tasks I tackle and the flexibilty to intersperse social / personal tasks with work projects, well, it just feels comfortable and natural now. Taking breaks midday to work out at the gym or have an extended lunch with friends or attend a lecture from a renowned economist? I think this sort of fluidity and flexibility might be frowned upon elsewhere, but in the end it makes me happy and also more fit mentally and emotionally.You recently did a class in basic search engine optimization for Government sites. How did that go? Do you and/or Google plan on doing more classes for other groups?It was my first such experience — leading a lengthy session with thankfully lots of Q&A — and it was both rewarding and enlightening. Content- and format-wise, I think the surprisingly dichotomous group (estimated at 70% gov’t folks more new to SEO vs. 30% of more experienced for-profit SEO-types) presented challenges I hadn’t anticipated, but it’s good practice for the real world. As for future projects of this sort the jury’s still out. My team and I definitely want to help and learn from as many groups of Webmasters as possible, but it’s tough to keep it scalable. Make the groups too large, and it’s like a performance, not a truly interactive session. Make the groups too small and numerous, and then I — or other folks on my team — end up spending too much time externally and not enough time getting things done on the inside. It’s a delicate balance, but something we’re thinking a lot about.Recently the DMA launched a Search Engine Marketing Certification program. SEMPO is launching it’s own search marketing education initiative for in-house marketers and of course, Google offers the Google AdWords Professional program. Do you think it makes sense to try and “certify” search marketers?While I understand the allure and value of that idea, I do think we’re shying away from directly certifying either individual SEOs or SEO organizations.The market moves so fast, so frequently, that there’s a significant danger of missing the mark? failing to recognize an SEO company that’s begun better focusing on user experiences or spotting (and delisting) an SEO that’s sacrificed usability for dramatic “quick fixes.” Specifically, we’re concerned about the challenge of making sure that certified individuals or companies adhere to best practices on an ongoing basis. And — unlike with AdWords — there are no immediate quantitative measures that we or Webmasters can use to assess ROI or evaluate practices. AdWords is a more controlled and measurable environment.So I believe for now we’re preferring to play a greater role in the background? helping individuals and organizations via Webmaster Tools as well as our documentation and our help group? and hoping that Webmasters can use these resources to gauge the trustworthiness and knowledgability of firms they might want to do business with in the search space. But — as with everything in this industry — nothing’s set in stone.Thanks Adam!
http://www.protect-x.com/
by Lee Odden
One of the fun things about being involved with the search marketing industry is getting to meet really bright and interesting people. Whether they are long time SEO gurus, CEO’s of fast growing corporations or employees of the major search engines, this industry rarely disappoints with its variety of perspectives.With the majority of search market share, most webmasters pay a significant amount of attention to Google. Google has done an increasingly good job of interacting with the webmaster community through the efforts of Matt Cutts and Vanessa Fox as well as Adam Lasnik. After having the chance to talk to Adam, I thought he and his job sounded pretty interesting and he agreed to do a short interview.This interview clarifies Adam’s role with Google as well as some of the most common webmaster questions/issues, his thoughts on the common sense of site optimization (think about the user!), long but satisfying days at the Googleplex, the Google Webmaster Help Group, the increasingly important role of Google Base and his thoughts on SEO certification.Note: with the exception of one link to Matt Cutts’ blog, all links were added by me.Tell us about how you became a Google employee. What was involved with getting “recruited” by Matt Cutts?I’ve been a fan of Google for quite some time, even writing up a “how to Google” tips article in early 2000 for a former employer’s internal newsletter. Also, many of my friends have worked at Google since the early days, and I was impressed by what they shared about the corporate culture. Amazing amounts of trust, freedom, and goodwill.I was particularly intrigued by the idea of strengthening communications between Googlers and Google users, amongst groups of Googlers, and so on. As a happy coincidence, Matt and the Search Quality group had been increasingly interested in extending these sorts of conversations as well, and so you might say we sort of found each other.Matt’s detailed the situation a bit more here: “Better Conversations“So there’s not much more for me to add. But about eight months later, I can say that it’s been a great fit and I’m really pleased things worked out the way they did.Please explain the webmaster liaison work you do. What sorts of questions annoy you the most? (besides that one) What have been some of the more rewarding interactions?I think there’s a misconception that my main role is “getting out there”? meeting with Webmasters, giving answers, solving specific problems, and so on. While — as someone who was Webmastering even back in’95 — I do enjoy the external aspects of my job, I think the most powerful part of what I do is internal. I’d say about 20% of my job involves interacting with Webmasters, SEOs, geeks, and even non-geeks at conferences, online, and otherwise. The remaining 80% is where the talk is translated into action. I am blessed with colleagues who care deeply about search and also about Webmasters; some of them are pretty well-known in the Webmaster community (including Vanessa, and — of course — Matt). But countless others work behind the scenes? the crawl folks, the Googlers working on indexing, and so on. I’m confident that I’m helping Webmasters most when I’m tackling both the urgent as well as important-but-long-term issues with my teammates, serving as both a Webmaster advocate and facilitator internally.As for what questions annoy me the most? There aren’t any specific ones that I find particularly frustrating. Rather, I do occasionally grow weary with two types of questions:1. Questions that are clearly answered in our much-improved Webmaster Central, via a quick search of our Webmaster Help group, or questions that would also be likely answered via use of our Webmaster Tools. There’s no such thing as a stupid question, IMHO, but lazy questions? well, that’s a different story.2. Accusatory “questions.” I suppose I need to get some thicker skin, but it stings when people imply that we either don’t care or — worse — that a relationship between Webmasters and Google must inherently be adversarial. Every time I’ve spoken with Larry Page and Marissa Mayer they’ve made it unequivocally clear that being mindful of Webmaster concerns is something resonating not just in Search Quality, but from the very top of Google.And thankfully, most of my interactions — with Googlers and Webmasters — have been decidedly positive. I got some incredible insights when I visited my colleagues in Dublin, Ireland (our European headquarters) as well as various Webmasters / Google users throughout Europe, all of whom offered thoughtfully global perspectives on search. Closer to home, I’ve especially enjoyed chatting with Webmasters and IT folks from non-profit organizations; these are people who often lack the resources to delve into the world of SEO, can’t even afford a week to schmooze at a conference. It’s made me think about how we (Google and all of us passionate about search) can most scalably and responsibly spread knowledge, and broadly share best search and user-experience practices in this area.What are some of the most common issues that you’ve heard from Webmasters in terms of problems with ranking on Google? What are some of the most common solutions?The two most common concerns we hear are:
Hey, all or most of my pages aren’t in your index! And
My site’s not ranking as high as I’d like or for the keywords it should show up for.In the first case, the sites at issue tend to be relatively new, or have so few meaningful backlinks as to be practically invisible. In a few instances, the sites violate or have recently violated our Webmaster Guidelines. The solutions involve patience and/or responsible networking to garner at least a few good links. Or, when violations are an issue, then cleaning up the problem and filing a reinclusion request is the way to go.In the second case, ranking can quite often be improved via either making one’s site more accessible / user-friendly (clearer titles, cleaner navigation) or — in a broader sense — by making the site more interesting or useful or entertaining to make for a better user experience.Lastly, I think our FAQ on creating a Google-friendly site in particular can address many Webmaster concerns and questions both in the initial stages of making a site and also in troubleshooting.The last time we talked, you mentioned that Google Base will play a more active role with information supplied in search results. You also mentioned that the line between the various Google services is becoming more fluid. Can you elaborate on that?Sure. This is in line with our Google-wide push towards fewer products, more functionality and power per product. You’ve probably noticed that we took the search box off the Base page; that’s because we figure consumers would prefer doing one search instead of two. On the whole, we want to make it easier for folks to get information into Google and, of course, easier for users to find information with the least amount of effort. Another example of this is our Onebox, the “teaser” at the top of many search results pages that shows related images, Google Groups messages, and so on. Again, it’s about getting as much relevant information to the user in the most expedient and useful way.Can you describe some ideal applications of Google Base for web site owners? How about some that are not so obvious?I think Base is great for any individual or company that has a large amount of structured (and, perhaps often-changing) information that they’d like to share. Obvious (and currently present) data sets include real estate listings and recipes. I’d love to see some quirkier-but-still-useful applications, though. Maybe hiking trail information by city region, or broad sets of nutrition information of common foods?? In the meantime, folks who want to get more familiar with Base can check out our Base quick facts and related info.Anyone who relies on search engines for their online marketing would love to spend time getting “inside” information from Google Engineers and those “in the know” about how Google ranks web pages and other media. Since that’s unlikely, outside of Engineer availability at the annual Google Dance, what resources would you recommend for webmasters in terms of understanding search engines as a marketing tool and for learning about specific tactics?I’m going to have to give the anti-answer to this one. I think learning tactics, per se, is sort of self-defeating; I know I can’t keep up with all the nuances of our algorithms because various teams are always updating them. Furthermore, if a particular tactic is likely to annoy or raise eyebrows for you or your customers, it’s likely to be exactly the sort of thing that our engineers will add as a negative signal in our algorithms. Hence, in the end — as cliched as it might sound — it really IS best to think like a user.Along those lines? do focus groups. I mean, even simple ones. Grab your dad. Your next door neighbor. Watch them navigate through your site, preferably on an older browser or slower computer, maybe even on dialup. It’s amazing (albeit sometimes painful) what you can learn by just watching, not judging. One of our key engineers pointedly debates features and defaults in our products based upon what frustrates her Mom, and while quantitative data drives decisions at the end of the day, these examples often really help shape the way we view search quality.So, okay, maybe these things fall under the heading of common sense, and so for a more “insider” view of how we think at the Plex, I’d recommend participating in our Webmaster Help Group. Sprinkled frequently throughout the many threads you’ll find some damn good insights from other Webmasters, along with input from me, Vanessa, and other Googlers. It’s our aim to help steer the community in the right directions; we can only feasibly participate in a small fraction of threads, but over time I’m confident that best practices will be emphasized and increasingly valuable information will shine through.Can you describe what a typical day is like for you working in the Googleplex?Wow, that’s a toughie. As we often joke, there’s rarely a “typical” day, certainly not a dull day here. I dutifully created a detailed project/to-do list months ago, and though I do find it important to keep my eyes on long term goals, I am amazed and often amused by how much crazy stuff comes up each day.But on the whole, I’d say a typical day consists of lots of internal collaboration (in person or via e-mail or internal Google docs), and also informal alpha testing of new products, visiting a large set of forums, blogs and other online publications, and preparing for or attending interviews or conferences.The collaboration is most noteworthy, IMHO, because it’s practically devoid of grandstanding, politicking, or buck-passing. Most positively, the level of empowerment here is pretty uniquely high, I believe, so when folks bring up an idea for improving something, they can often just go and do it themselves. Of course, that can also be a bit daunting sometimes, too.What’s surprising to me, I think, is the change in my thinking about work/life delineations. I’m still pretty firmly clinging to my own blog as my personal space, so I don’t think you should expect to see Googlisms there in the near future. But timewise? it’s not uncommon for me to leave for work on the Google shuttle at 8:15am and get home at 9pm or later. Previously, I’d have frowned upon that as “workaholism,” but given the diversity of tasks I tackle and the flexibilty to intersperse social / personal tasks with work projects, well, it just feels comfortable and natural now. Taking breaks midday to work out at the gym or have an extended lunch with friends or attend a lecture from a renowned economist? I think this sort of fluidity and flexibility might be frowned upon elsewhere, but in the end it makes me happy and also more fit mentally and emotionally.You recently did a class in basic search engine optimization for Government sites. How did that go? Do you and/or Google plan on doing more classes for other groups?It was my first such experience — leading a lengthy session with thankfully lots of Q&A — and it was both rewarding and enlightening. Content- and format-wise, I think the surprisingly dichotomous group (estimated at 70% gov’t folks more new to SEO vs. 30% of more experienced for-profit SEO-types) presented challenges I hadn’t anticipated, but it’s good practice for the real world. As for future projects of this sort the jury’s still out. My team and I definitely want to help and learn from as many groups of Webmasters as possible, but it’s tough to keep it scalable. Make the groups too large, and it’s like a performance, not a truly interactive session. Make the groups too small and numerous, and then I — or other folks on my team — end up spending too much time externally and not enough time getting things done on the inside. It’s a delicate balance, but something we’re thinking a lot about.Recently the DMA launched a Search Engine Marketing Certification program. SEMPO is launching it’s own search marketing education initiative for in-house marketers and of course, Google offers the Google AdWords Professional program. Do you think it makes sense to try and “certify” search marketers?While I understand the allure and value of that idea, I do think we’re shying away from directly certifying either individual SEOs or SEO organizations.The market moves so fast, so frequently, that there’s a significant danger of missing the mark? failing to recognize an SEO company that’s begun better focusing on user experiences or spotting (and delisting) an SEO that’s sacrificed usability for dramatic “quick fixes.” Specifically, we’re concerned about the challenge of making sure that certified individuals or companies adhere to best practices on an ongoing basis. And — unlike with AdWords — there are no immediate quantitative measures that we or Webmasters can use to assess ROI or evaluate practices. AdWords is a more controlled and measurable environment.So I believe for now we’re preferring to play a greater role in the background? helping individuals and organizations via Webmaster Tools as well as our documentation and our help group? and hoping that Webmasters can use these resources to gauge the trustworthiness and knowledgability of firms they might want to do business with in the search space. But — as with everything in this industry — nothing’s set in stone.Thanks Adam!
http://www.protect-x.com/
posted by Maksim at 2:44 PM
0 comments
Hidden links
Visit a new Protect-X Sponsors section!
by Matt Cutts
Most people understand hidden text is something like white text on a white background, and know to steer clear of it. Let me show you an example of a hidden link. Normally a hidden link could be in several forms:- hidden text that also happens to be hyperlinked, e.g. white text on a white background, and the text is a link- using CSS to make hyperlinks that are tiny, like 1 pixel high text- hiding links in something like the period in the middle of a paragraph of text
Now there’s nothing bad about changing the style of a link to some degree, but let me show you an example of going overboard. Here’s a paragraph of text on a site that I recently saw:
You see the two normal hyperlinks, right? Do you see any other links in this paragraph? A user wouldn’t see any other links, even if they moused over every word in the paragraph. But if you happened to click on just the right word, you’d get whisked away to a hardcore porn site. Here, I’ll show you what you’d see in the instant after clicking on the hidden link, right before you head to the porn site:
See how the word “mission” has a little box around it? It’s a hidden link. If you view the source of the page, here’s what you’ll see. I’ve highlighted the relevant link:
Someone went to a fair amount of trouble to hide the porn site link. The status bar gets set to empty using the onMouseOver action, so when you mouse over the link, you don’t see that it goes anywhere. And the style of the link is set so that the cursor doesn’t change when you mouse over the link as well. In my opinion, this is a good example of a link that crosses over into deceptiveness and violates our quality guidelines.
As long as we’re talking about links, this seems like a pretty good opportunity to talk about a simple litmus test for paid links and how to tell if a paid link violates search engines’ quality guidelines. If you want to sell a link, you should at least provide machine-readable disclosure for paid links by making your link in a way that doesn’t affect search engines. There’s a ton of ways to do that. For example, you could make a paid link go through a redirect where the redirect url is robot’ed out using robots.txt. You could also use the rel=nofollow attribute. I’ve said as much many times before, but I wanted to give a heads-up because Google is going to be looking at paid links more closely in the future.
The other best practice I’d advise is to provide human readable disclosure that a link/review/article is paid. You could put a badge on your site to disclose that some links, posts, or reviews are paid, but including the disclosure on a per-post level would better. Even something as simple as “This is a paid review” fulfills the human-readable aspect of disclosing a paid article. Google’s quality guidelines are more concerned with the machine-readable aspect of disclosing paid links/posts, but the Federal Trade Commission has said that human-readable disclosure is important too:
“The petition to us did raise a question about compliance with the FTC act,” said Mary K. Engle, FTC associate director for advertising practices. “We wanted to make clear . . . if you’re being paid, you should disclose that.”
To make sure that you’re in good shape, go with both human-readable disclosure and machine-readable disclosure, using any of the methods I mentioned above.
http://www.protect-x.com/
by Matt Cutts
Most people understand hidden text is something like white text on a white background, and know to steer clear of it. Let me show you an example of a hidden link. Normally a hidden link could be in several forms:- hidden text that also happens to be hyperlinked, e.g. white text on a white background, and the text is a link- using CSS to make hyperlinks that are tiny, like 1 pixel high text- hiding links in something like the period in the middle of a paragraph of text
Now there’s nothing bad about changing the style of a link to some degree, but let me show you an example of going overboard. Here’s a paragraph of text on a site that I recently saw:
You see the two normal hyperlinks, right? Do you see any other links in this paragraph? A user wouldn’t see any other links, even if they moused over every word in the paragraph. But if you happened to click on just the right word, you’d get whisked away to a hardcore porn site. Here, I’ll show you what you’d see in the instant after clicking on the hidden link, right before you head to the porn site:
See how the word “mission” has a little box around it? It’s a hidden link. If you view the source of the page, here’s what you’ll see. I’ve highlighted the relevant link:
Someone went to a fair amount of trouble to hide the porn site link. The status bar gets set to empty using the onMouseOver action, so when you mouse over the link, you don’t see that it goes anywhere. And the style of the link is set so that the cursor doesn’t change when you mouse over the link as well. In my opinion, this is a good example of a link that crosses over into deceptiveness and violates our quality guidelines.
As long as we’re talking about links, this seems like a pretty good opportunity to talk about a simple litmus test for paid links and how to tell if a paid link violates search engines’ quality guidelines. If you want to sell a link, you should at least provide machine-readable disclosure for paid links by making your link in a way that doesn’t affect search engines. There’s a ton of ways to do that. For example, you could make a paid link go through a redirect where the redirect url is robot’ed out using robots.txt. You could also use the rel=nofollow attribute. I’ve said as much many times before, but I wanted to give a heads-up because Google is going to be looking at paid links more closely in the future.
The other best practice I’d advise is to provide human readable disclosure that a link/review/article is paid. You could put a badge on your site to disclose that some links, posts, or reviews are paid, but including the disclosure on a per-post level would better. Even something as simple as “This is a paid review” fulfills the human-readable aspect of disclosing a paid article. Google’s quality guidelines are more concerned with the machine-readable aspect of disclosing paid links/posts, but the Federal Trade Commission has said that human-readable disclosure is important too:
“The petition to us did raise a question about compliance with the FTC act,” said Mary K. Engle, FTC associate director for advertising practices. “We wanted to make clear . . . if you’re being paid, you should disclose that.”
To make sure that you’re in good shape, go with both human-readable disclosure and machine-readable disclosure, using any of the methods I mentioned above.
http://www.protect-x.com/
posted by Maksim at 2:13 PM
0 comments
Introduction to Copyrights, Patents and Trademarks
Visit a new Protect-X Sponsors section!
by Deepak Dutta
What is a copyright? Can everything be copyrighted? A copyright is the expression of an idea. The idea itself is not copyrighted. Ideas can be patented and I will talk about patents later.Let's consider the example of a story: a poor man who found lots of cash on his way back to his home from his work. He decided to keep the cash to improve his financial situation. But he could not sleep at night because he was haunted by strange voices that told him to find the owner and return the cash. This idea cannot be protected. Anybody can write a short story based on the idea. What is protected is how the author expresses the idea in the form of texts, illustrations, drawings, photographs, etc.Once an expression is copyrighted, others can still use it for fair use. You can tape a few 15 seconds video clips from a copyrighted TV program and post it in your video blogs about a commentary on the program or broadcaster, etc. This will be considered a fair use and you will not infringe the copyright.After a copyrighted material expires, it falls into the public domain. The life of a copyrighted material is the life of the author, plus 70 years. The public domain copyrighted materials can be reproduced without any infringement. For example, if you have an old picture with expired copyright, you can post the picture in your website.In the USA, the Copyright Act of 1976 governs all copyrights. The Copyright Act does not protect any ideas, procedures, process, systems, and methods of operations, concepts, principle or discovery regardless of how it is expressed. It is the expression that is protected by the Copyright Act. You cannot copyright titles, names, slogans, and short phrases even if those have new ideas.As mentioned earlier, the life span of a copyrighted material is the author's life, plus 70 years in most cases. There are a few exceptions to this rule and they are: un-renewed copyrighted materials published pre-1964, materials published before 1978 without a copyrighted notice, and materials published by the US Government.All copyrighted materials should be fixed in a tangible medium (papers, CDs, DVDs, etc.). If it is not fixed in a tangible medium, it is not copyrighted. For example, your speech to the graduating class that was never recorded, taped, or published is not protected under the US Copyright Act. Your can register your copyrighted materials with the US Copyright Office. All expressions of ideas are copyrighted regardless of whether they are registered with the Copyright Office or not. If you register the expression with the Copyright Office, you can receive statutory damages and attorney's fees if an infringement occurs. If the material is not registered with the Copyrighted Office, you can only recover actual damages.A patent holder of an invention has the right to exclude others from using, selling, and making the invention. The United States Patent Office (USPTO) awards patents. There are three kinds of patents: utility, design, and plant patents.The most frequently used patents are utility patents. They have a life span of 20 years from the effective filing date if the filing date is after June 8, 1995. A utility patent also requires periodic maintenance fees. A utility patent must be a novel, useful, and non-obvious process, machine, manufacture, or compositions of matter or improvement to the same. There are three things that define a utility patent. First, it must be novel. Nobody should have invented, published, used, or manufactured the invention before. Second, one should be able to do something useful with the invention. If it is just novel without any usefulness, it cannot be patented. A patentable invention should not be obvious to the person with ordinary skills in the same technology space related to the invention.A design patent is the appearance or aesthetic of an article and it has a life span of 14 years after the patent is issued. A plant patent, as the name applies, protects a distinct plant produced asexually. It has life span of 20 years from the filing date.A trademark is word, symbol, design, or a combination of one or more of these items. It is used to identify the source of goods or services of one company and differentiate a company's goods and services from others. A trademark should not be confusingly similar to other existing names or symbols.A trademark is registered with the USPTO. It can also be registered through the state's Secretary of State's office. If the trademark is not registered, the rights to the trademark may be geographically limited. You cannot use the symbol ® to represent a mark if it is not registered.If you want to maintain a trademark for your business, you must actively use it. Just registering a trademark without using it actively will result in diminished rights over time. Never allow a trademark to become a generic word. For example, the trademark "Aspirin" by Bayer has become a generic word to represent acetylsalicylic acid. Others can use it without causing any infringement. When you see a trademark used by authors as a noun or a verb, it may become a generic word. Trademark owners vigorously pursue authors from using the trademark as a noun or a verb. A trademark should always be used as an adjective. For example, Google is preventing others from using the word Google as a verb.
http://www.protect-x.com/
by Deepak Dutta
What is a copyright? Can everything be copyrighted? A copyright is the expression of an idea. The idea itself is not copyrighted. Ideas can be patented and I will talk about patents later.Let's consider the example of a story: a poor man who found lots of cash on his way back to his home from his work. He decided to keep the cash to improve his financial situation. But he could not sleep at night because he was haunted by strange voices that told him to find the owner and return the cash. This idea cannot be protected. Anybody can write a short story based on the idea. What is protected is how the author expresses the idea in the form of texts, illustrations, drawings, photographs, etc.Once an expression is copyrighted, others can still use it for fair use. You can tape a few 15 seconds video clips from a copyrighted TV program and post it in your video blogs about a commentary on the program or broadcaster, etc. This will be considered a fair use and you will not infringe the copyright.After a copyrighted material expires, it falls into the public domain. The life of a copyrighted material is the life of the author, plus 70 years. The public domain copyrighted materials can be reproduced without any infringement. For example, if you have an old picture with expired copyright, you can post the picture in your website.In the USA, the Copyright Act of 1976 governs all copyrights. The Copyright Act does not protect any ideas, procedures, process, systems, and methods of operations, concepts, principle or discovery regardless of how it is expressed. It is the expression that is protected by the Copyright Act. You cannot copyright titles, names, slogans, and short phrases even if those have new ideas.As mentioned earlier, the life span of a copyrighted material is the author's life, plus 70 years in most cases. There are a few exceptions to this rule and they are: un-renewed copyrighted materials published pre-1964, materials published before 1978 without a copyrighted notice, and materials published by the US Government.All copyrighted materials should be fixed in a tangible medium (papers, CDs, DVDs, etc.). If it is not fixed in a tangible medium, it is not copyrighted. For example, your speech to the graduating class that was never recorded, taped, or published is not protected under the US Copyright Act. Your can register your copyrighted materials with the US Copyright Office. All expressions of ideas are copyrighted regardless of whether they are registered with the Copyright Office or not. If you register the expression with the Copyright Office, you can receive statutory damages and attorney's fees if an infringement occurs. If the material is not registered with the Copyrighted Office, you can only recover actual damages.A patent holder of an invention has the right to exclude others from using, selling, and making the invention. The United States Patent Office (USPTO) awards patents. There are three kinds of patents: utility, design, and plant patents.The most frequently used patents are utility patents. They have a life span of 20 years from the effective filing date if the filing date is after June 8, 1995. A utility patent also requires periodic maintenance fees. A utility patent must be a novel, useful, and non-obvious process, machine, manufacture, or compositions of matter or improvement to the same. There are three things that define a utility patent. First, it must be novel. Nobody should have invented, published, used, or manufactured the invention before. Second, one should be able to do something useful with the invention. If it is just novel without any usefulness, it cannot be patented. A patentable invention should not be obvious to the person with ordinary skills in the same technology space related to the invention.A design patent is the appearance or aesthetic of an article and it has a life span of 14 years after the patent is issued. A plant patent, as the name applies, protects a distinct plant produced asexually. It has life span of 20 years from the filing date.A trademark is word, symbol, design, or a combination of one or more of these items. It is used to identify the source of goods or services of one company and differentiate a company's goods and services from others. A trademark should not be confusingly similar to other existing names or symbols.A trademark is registered with the USPTO. It can also be registered through the state's Secretary of State's office. If the trademark is not registered, the rights to the trademark may be geographically limited. You cannot use the symbol ® to represent a mark if it is not registered.If you want to maintain a trademark for your business, you must actively use it. Just registering a trademark without using it actively will result in diminished rights over time. Never allow a trademark to become a generic word. For example, the trademark "Aspirin" by Bayer has become a generic word to represent acetylsalicylic acid. Others can use it without causing any infringement. When you see a trademark used by authors as a noun or a verb, it may become a generic word. Trademark owners vigorously pursue authors from using the trademark as a noun or a verb. A trademark should always be used as an adjective. For example, Google is preventing others from using the word Google as a verb.
http://www.protect-x.com/
posted by Maksim at 2:11 PM
0 comments
Google Goes to War on Paid Text Links
Visit a new Protect-X Sponsors section!
by Kevin Newcomb
Google engineer Matt Cutts posted a series of blog posts on Saturday, attacking hidden links, links in Wordpress themes, and paid links. I'm sure his intention is noble: to remove irrelevant links from the serps. But has he gone too far? Judging by the firestorm of protest in the blogosphere, that may be the case.
There are certainly paid links that affect search result quality, and Google has every right to deal with those. But to say that human-reviewed, relevant paid links will be punished is another situation entirely. That makes it look like Google is flexing its muscles as the dominant search engine to take out competitors of its own text ad program.
The call for submissions of paid links is also fraught with problems, most obviously that of competitors sabotaging each other by buying ads for them and reporting them to Google, and secondly of just how Google expects to be able to detect paid links without access to a webmaster's bank account.
Many are irked by Cutts' framing of the paid links argument within the context of hidden, deceptive links to porn sites. His post segueways immediately from a description of such deceptive behavior, and then discusses the practice of paid links, a legitimate advertising model.
As long as we’re talking about links, this seems like a pretty good opportunity to talk about a simple litmus test for paid links and how to tell if a paid link violates search engines’ quality guidelines. If you want to sell a link, you should at least provide machine-readable disclosure for paid links by making your link in a way that doesn’t affect search engines. There’s a ton of ways to do that. For example, you could make a paid link go through a redirect where the redirect url is robot’ed out using robots.txt. You could also use the rel=nofollow attribute. I’ve said as much many times before, but I wanted to give a heads-up because Google is going to be looking at paid links more closely in the future.
The other best practice I’d advise is to provide human readable disclosure that a link/review/article is paid. You could put a badge on your site to disclose that some links, posts, or reviews are paid, but including the disclosure on a per-post level would better. Even something as simple as “This is a paid review” fulfills the human-readable aspect of disclosing a paid article...To make sure that you’re in good shape, go with both human-readable disclosure and machine-readable disclosure, using any of the methods I mentioned above.
One of the major concerns with this is the basic idea of whether it's really Google's problem, for having an algorithm that relies on links for ranking. Should webmasters be forced to change the way they do business to adjust for a shortcoming in Google's relevance algorithm? Outside of Google's algo, there's nothing inherently evil about selling links as ads. Even within the algo, many people argue that people that go the the trouble to buy links are likely selling a relevant product related to that link, so it should count just as much to Google as an unpaid link would.
There are, of course, plenty of sites that sell irrelevant links, that perhaps are the ones Cutts is really targeting. But he is not saying that relevant paid links are OK either, and that is where Google is crossing a line, dictating that certain kinds of advertising (outside of its own paid text links) will lead to punishment of the publisher's site. Is it really fair for Google to say that an advertising program that reviews links for quality is bad?
Another issue entirely is Cutts solicitation of reports of sites using paid links.
Google may provide a special form for paid link reports at some point, but in the mean time, here’s a couple of ways that anyone can use to report paid links:- Sign in to Google’s webmaster console and use the authenticated spam report form, then include the word “paidlink” (all one word) in the text area of the spam report. If you use the authenticated form, you’ll need to sign in with a Google Account, but your report will carry more weight.- Use the unauthenticated spam report form and make sure to include the word “paidlink” (all one word) in the text area of the spam report.
As far as the details, it can be pretty short. Something like “Example.com is selling links; here’s a page on example.com that demonstrates that” or “www.shadyseo.com is buying links. You can see the paid links on www.example.com/path/page.html” is all you need to mention. That will be enough for Google to start testing out some new techniques we’ve got — thanks!
That seems like an accident waiting to happen. Already, several bloggers have joked that they've followed his advice, and to be helpful, have reported everyone above them in the serps. Others say they'll plan to buy ads for their competitors and report those. I doubt it's a joke, in many cases. And how is Google going to determine which links are paid or not? Will Google become judge, jury, and executioner, deciding that a link is paid without really knowing for sure, and punishing a site accordingly?
I'm hoping that Matt will clarify his position after reviewing some of the feedback, and reach a position that makes more sense and accomplishes the goal of improving search result quality, without making the reporting process easy to game, or making it look like Google is trying to crush its advertising competitors by punishing their customers in its search engine.
http://www.protect-x.com/
by Kevin Newcomb
Google engineer Matt Cutts posted a series of blog posts on Saturday, attacking hidden links, links in Wordpress themes, and paid links. I'm sure his intention is noble: to remove irrelevant links from the serps. But has he gone too far? Judging by the firestorm of protest in the blogosphere, that may be the case.
There are certainly paid links that affect search result quality, and Google has every right to deal with those. But to say that human-reviewed, relevant paid links will be punished is another situation entirely. That makes it look like Google is flexing its muscles as the dominant search engine to take out competitors of its own text ad program.
The call for submissions of paid links is also fraught with problems, most obviously that of competitors sabotaging each other by buying ads for them and reporting them to Google, and secondly of just how Google expects to be able to detect paid links without access to a webmaster's bank account.
Many are irked by Cutts' framing of the paid links argument within the context of hidden, deceptive links to porn sites. His post segueways immediately from a description of such deceptive behavior, and then discusses the practice of paid links, a legitimate advertising model.
As long as we’re talking about links, this seems like a pretty good opportunity to talk about a simple litmus test for paid links and how to tell if a paid link violates search engines’ quality guidelines. If you want to sell a link, you should at least provide machine-readable disclosure for paid links by making your link in a way that doesn’t affect search engines. There’s a ton of ways to do that. For example, you could make a paid link go through a redirect where the redirect url is robot’ed out using robots.txt. You could also use the rel=nofollow attribute. I’ve said as much many times before, but I wanted to give a heads-up because Google is going to be looking at paid links more closely in the future.
The other best practice I’d advise is to provide human readable disclosure that a link/review/article is paid. You could put a badge on your site to disclose that some links, posts, or reviews are paid, but including the disclosure on a per-post level would better. Even something as simple as “This is a paid review” fulfills the human-readable aspect of disclosing a paid article...To make sure that you’re in good shape, go with both human-readable disclosure and machine-readable disclosure, using any of the methods I mentioned above.
One of the major concerns with this is the basic idea of whether it's really Google's problem, for having an algorithm that relies on links for ranking. Should webmasters be forced to change the way they do business to adjust for a shortcoming in Google's relevance algorithm? Outside of Google's algo, there's nothing inherently evil about selling links as ads. Even within the algo, many people argue that people that go the the trouble to buy links are likely selling a relevant product related to that link, so it should count just as much to Google as an unpaid link would.
There are, of course, plenty of sites that sell irrelevant links, that perhaps are the ones Cutts is really targeting. But he is not saying that relevant paid links are OK either, and that is where Google is crossing a line, dictating that certain kinds of advertising (outside of its own paid text links) will lead to punishment of the publisher's site. Is it really fair for Google to say that an advertising program that reviews links for quality is bad?
Another issue entirely is Cutts solicitation of reports of sites using paid links.
Google may provide a special form for paid link reports at some point, but in the mean time, here’s a couple of ways that anyone can use to report paid links:- Sign in to Google’s webmaster console and use the authenticated spam report form, then include the word “paidlink” (all one word) in the text area of the spam report. If you use the authenticated form, you’ll need to sign in with a Google Account, but your report will carry more weight.- Use the unauthenticated spam report form and make sure to include the word “paidlink” (all one word) in the text area of the spam report.
As far as the details, it can be pretty short. Something like “Example.com is selling links; here’s a page on example.com that demonstrates that” or “www.shadyseo.com is buying links. You can see the paid links on www.example.com/path/page.html” is all you need to mention. That will be enough for Google to start testing out some new techniques we’ve got — thanks!
That seems like an accident waiting to happen. Already, several bloggers have joked that they've followed his advice, and to be helpful, have reported everyone above them in the serps. Others say they'll plan to buy ads for their competitors and report those. I doubt it's a joke, in many cases. And how is Google going to determine which links are paid or not? Will Google become judge, jury, and executioner, deciding that a link is paid without really knowing for sure, and punishing a site accordingly?
I'm hoping that Matt will clarify his position after reviewing some of the feedback, and reach a position that makes more sense and accomplishes the goal of improving search result quality, without making the reporting process easy to game, or making it look like Google is trying to crush its advertising competitors by punishing their customers in its search engine.
http://www.protect-x.com/
posted by Maksim at 1:52 PM
0 comments
Friday, April 13, 2007
15 Fixes for a Failing Website
Visit a new Protect-X Sponsors section!
by Rick Sloboda
If your website's not performing, here's what you can do to improve search engine rankings, engage visitors and convert more sales.
1. Align the site with your objectivesHave your business objectives and goals changed since you launched your website? If so, then you need to revisit your website's content to ensure it supports your current business needs.
2. Remove useless items
Every item on your website competes for your visitors' attention, reducing the impact of your key message. Is that welcome message necessary? Are some of those buttons redundant? Scrutinize every element to help deliver a strong message and eliminate distractions.
3. Update your information
Keep time-sensitive information on your website up to date. If you don't have adequate resources, keep time-sensitive information to a minimum.
4. Edit your web copy for consistency
Businesses often have different people adding web copy at different times, which leads to inconsistencies. Review your copy from start to finish with a keen eye on spelling, format, style, narration, tense, flow and so on.
5. Split text blocks into scannable chunks
Massive blocks of text discourage visitors from exploring your website. Break up web copy with relevant headlines, subheads, bullet points and short, one-topic paragraphs. Your visitors will thank you by spending more time on your site.
6. Review fonts
Check your fonts to ensure consistent size, style and spacing. Consider using a style sheet. Fonts optimal for the Web include Arial, Courier, Georgia, Time New Roman and Verdana.
7. Add new web copy
Add relevant web copy frequently to satisfy visitors and search engines alike. Improve search engine rankings and give your visitors a reason to keep coming back.
8. Refresh your graphics
Renew your image with new graphics, charts and photos. Many are royalty free. Type in terms like "clip art," "graphics," and "free photos" into your favourite search engine and you're on your way.
9. Make your graphics search engine friendly
Give your images tags with keywords to help improve search engine rankings.
10. Consider your colour theme
Go over your colours to ensure they are a part of or at least complement your logo and brand. Dump backgrounds that make it difficult to read web copy.
11. Extinguish flashing content
Flashing content irritates visitors and turns them away. It's one step away from announcing, "Congratulations! You're the 1,000,000th visitor! Click here to claim prize!" If you want it to make a point, do so with compelling web copy, placement, font size or colour.
12. Speed it up
Your pages should load fast. Don't make your visitors wait 30 seconds or so just to watch your logo spin around. How many times have you retreated from a site while waiting for its intro to load? Relevant web copy is much more likely to grab the attention of a potential client.
13. Re-evaluate PDFs
Are you guilty of throwing PDFs onto your website to save time? PDFs are designed for print, not the Web. Unless it's an e-book or a form, offer the information as a webpage and give your visitor the option of viewing it as a PDF.
14. Leave music to the DJs
Don't blast music at your visitors. It slows access to your site and can cheapen your presentation. If music is required, hand over the controls to your visitor by making it optional.
15. Repair or delete broken links
Check all your links and be quick to repair or delete any that bring your visitors to the '404 file not found' message. If a section is under construction, take it offline.
http://www.protect-x.com/
by Rick Sloboda
If your website's not performing, here's what you can do to improve search engine rankings, engage visitors and convert more sales.
1. Align the site with your objectivesHave your business objectives and goals changed since you launched your website? If so, then you need to revisit your website's content to ensure it supports your current business needs.
2. Remove useless items
Every item on your website competes for your visitors' attention, reducing the impact of your key message. Is that welcome message necessary? Are some of those buttons redundant? Scrutinize every element to help deliver a strong message and eliminate distractions.
3. Update your information
Keep time-sensitive information on your website up to date. If you don't have adequate resources, keep time-sensitive information to a minimum.
4. Edit your web copy for consistency
Businesses often have different people adding web copy at different times, which leads to inconsistencies. Review your copy from start to finish with a keen eye on spelling, format, style, narration, tense, flow and so on.
5. Split text blocks into scannable chunks
Massive blocks of text discourage visitors from exploring your website. Break up web copy with relevant headlines, subheads, bullet points and short, one-topic paragraphs. Your visitors will thank you by spending more time on your site.
6. Review fonts
Check your fonts to ensure consistent size, style and spacing. Consider using a style sheet. Fonts optimal for the Web include Arial, Courier, Georgia, Time New Roman and Verdana.
7. Add new web copy
Add relevant web copy frequently to satisfy visitors and search engines alike. Improve search engine rankings and give your visitors a reason to keep coming back.
8. Refresh your graphics
Renew your image with new graphics, charts and photos. Many are royalty free. Type in terms like "clip art," "graphics," and "free photos" into your favourite search engine and you're on your way.
9. Make your graphics search engine friendly
Give your images tags with keywords to help improve search engine rankings.
10. Consider your colour theme
Go over your colours to ensure they are a part of or at least complement your logo and brand. Dump backgrounds that make it difficult to read web copy.
11. Extinguish flashing content
Flashing content irritates visitors and turns them away. It's one step away from announcing, "Congratulations! You're the 1,000,000th visitor! Click here to claim prize!" If you want it to make a point, do so with compelling web copy, placement, font size or colour.
12. Speed it up
Your pages should load fast. Don't make your visitors wait 30 seconds or so just to watch your logo spin around. How many times have you retreated from a site while waiting for its intro to load? Relevant web copy is much more likely to grab the attention of a potential client.
13. Re-evaluate PDFs
Are you guilty of throwing PDFs onto your website to save time? PDFs are designed for print, not the Web. Unless it's an e-book or a form, offer the information as a webpage and give your visitor the option of viewing it as a PDF.
14. Leave music to the DJs
Don't blast music at your visitors. It slows access to your site and can cheapen your presentation. If music is required, hand over the controls to your visitor by making it optional.
15. Repair or delete broken links
Check all your links and be quick to repair or delete any that bring your visitors to the '404 file not found' message. If a section is under construction, take it offline.
http://www.protect-x.com/
posted by Maksim at 1:02 PM
0 comments
Traffic Builder: Reciprocal Link Exchanges
Visit a new Protect-X Sponsors section!
- Previously Published in Klixxx Magazine!
One of the significant differences distinguishing the Web from traditional print media is hyperlinks - the interconnected, two-way structure of references from one page to another and to another, and so on...That's, of course, why they call it a "Web" of content. As users navigate (or meander serendipitously) their way through this Web, the interests and intentionality that drive them can result in very targeted, pre-qualified traffic.From a marketing standpoint, this can be extremely valuable and so it is no surprise that webmasters have sought to direct and fine-tune this process by driving targeted traffic to themselves by means of self-referring links planted all over the place where they will do the most good. And, as a practical matter to achieve this, it has proved mutually beneficial and very economical for webmasters to barter the space on their pages through reciprocal link exchanges.According to online marketing consultant Jack Humphrey [2004b] the specific top reasons to set up a powerful linking system include:
Drive traffic to your site
Develop Web presence
Leverage link popularity
Direct website traffic
Strengthen your branding
Pre-qualified targeted traffic MORE EVIL THAN SATANEveryone has heard that, at various times, a search for "more evil than Satan" on Google or MSN Search would turn up the competitor's home page ranked #1. That shows the power of link popularity-lots of people agree with the evil concept and provide the link while they say so. [Jaques 2004] The search result has subsequently changed-now you retrieve the many pages about this phenomenon first-but this just shows that link popularity remains powerful and a key element in SEO. But there are two schools of thought on the primary reason why you should link. Although link popularity is obviously important in getting high search engine rankings [Rouse 2004], some like Humphrey [2004a] stress the value of reciprocal linking specifically to generate traffic directly rather than merely to secure high rankings with the search engines.And the Humphreys may have a point. According to WebSideStory's StatMarket website optimization service, search engines account for only a little more than 13% of an average website's traffic while the same research found that 21% of surfers get there via links. Rao [2004] But either way, traffic is always King and reciprocal linking definitely has major value in both ways as part of a broad, multi-faceted marketing campaign:In order to weather any drops from single-sources of traffic to your site, you must have a lot of irons in the fire (links). People you have targeted as your best prospects should be able to find your site virtually everywhere they surf. Website owners who rely solely on search engine ranking are leaving 90% of the marketing pie on the plate! For long-term stability and steady, predictable traffic, you simply must broaden your reach and utilize a host of different publicity tactics. [Humphrey 2004a]A FEW GOOD LINKSThe undisputed marketing benefits of reciprocal linking do not accrue automatically-it's necessary to have to have good, well-chosen links if the strategy is to perform effectively, as Gergye [2004] and Goetsche [2004] explain. In fact, poorly-chosen links can actually work against you.Take links meant to boost link popularity with the search engines, for example. Link popularity is a function of both the quantity and quality of sites that link to your site. Mukesh [2004], Tanna [2004], and Tilton [2004] address the factors that maximize quality in particular.Probably the most important is relevance-there must be some fundamental topical relationship between your site and the site that links you. And the other way around too-search engines take a dim view of outbound links that go to irrelevant or loosely-related sites. Basic quality is important too- your partnering site should be a good one with the metrics to prove it.Understandably, the search engines do not give much weight to links from (or to) crummy sites. A site visit is indicated, but Google rankings and Alexa stats tell much of the story. But even when a promising exchange is arranged, how you are treated once there can make all the difference to your results-your link may be buried in an obscure area of the site or may have a less than desirable position on its page. Choosing the best links will produce effective results while poor links will do you harm (such as getting banned from a search engine). And in the middle is mediocrity, which will simply do you no good at all.
http://www.protect-x.com/
- Previously Published in Klixxx Magazine!
One of the significant differences distinguishing the Web from traditional print media is hyperlinks - the interconnected, two-way structure of references from one page to another and to another, and so on...That's, of course, why they call it a "Web" of content. As users navigate (or meander serendipitously) their way through this Web, the interests and intentionality that drive them can result in very targeted, pre-qualified traffic.From a marketing standpoint, this can be extremely valuable and so it is no surprise that webmasters have sought to direct and fine-tune this process by driving targeted traffic to themselves by means of self-referring links planted all over the place where they will do the most good. And, as a practical matter to achieve this, it has proved mutually beneficial and very economical for webmasters to barter the space on their pages through reciprocal link exchanges.According to online marketing consultant Jack Humphrey [2004b] the specific top reasons to set up a powerful linking system include:
Drive traffic to your site
Develop Web presence
Leverage link popularity
Direct website traffic
Strengthen your branding
Pre-qualified targeted traffic MORE EVIL THAN SATANEveryone has heard that, at various times, a search for "more evil than Satan" on Google or MSN Search would turn up the competitor's home page ranked #1. That shows the power of link popularity-lots of people agree with the evil concept and provide the link while they say so. [Jaques 2004] The search result has subsequently changed-now you retrieve the many pages about this phenomenon first-but this just shows that link popularity remains powerful and a key element in SEO. But there are two schools of thought on the primary reason why you should link. Although link popularity is obviously important in getting high search engine rankings [Rouse 2004], some like Humphrey [2004a] stress the value of reciprocal linking specifically to generate traffic directly rather than merely to secure high rankings with the search engines.And the Humphreys may have a point. According to WebSideStory's StatMarket website optimization service, search engines account for only a little more than 13% of an average website's traffic while the same research found that 21% of surfers get there via links. Rao [2004] But either way, traffic is always King and reciprocal linking definitely has major value in both ways as part of a broad, multi-faceted marketing campaign:In order to weather any drops from single-sources of traffic to your site, you must have a lot of irons in the fire (links). People you have targeted as your best prospects should be able to find your site virtually everywhere they surf. Website owners who rely solely on search engine ranking are leaving 90% of the marketing pie on the plate! For long-term stability and steady, predictable traffic, you simply must broaden your reach and utilize a host of different publicity tactics. [Humphrey 2004a]A FEW GOOD LINKSThe undisputed marketing benefits of reciprocal linking do not accrue automatically-it's necessary to have to have good, well-chosen links if the strategy is to perform effectively, as Gergye [2004] and Goetsche [2004] explain. In fact, poorly-chosen links can actually work against you.Take links meant to boost link popularity with the search engines, for example. Link popularity is a function of both the quantity and quality of sites that link to your site. Mukesh [2004], Tanna [2004], and Tilton [2004] address the factors that maximize quality in particular.Probably the most important is relevance-there must be some fundamental topical relationship between your site and the site that links you. And the other way around too-search engines take a dim view of outbound links that go to irrelevant or loosely-related sites. Basic quality is important too- your partnering site should be a good one with the metrics to prove it.Understandably, the search engines do not give much weight to links from (or to) crummy sites. A site visit is indicated, but Google rankings and Alexa stats tell much of the story. But even when a promising exchange is arranged, how you are treated once there can make all the difference to your results-your link may be buried in an obscure area of the site or may have a less than desirable position on its page. Choosing the best links will produce effective results while poor links will do you harm (such as getting banned from a search engine). And in the middle is mediocrity, which will simply do you no good at all.
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posted by Maksim at 12:42 PM
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China launches campaign to crack down on Web porn
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BEIJING, April 12 (Xinhua) -- The Ministry of Public Security (MPS), along with nine other government departments, announced the launching of a campaign here Thursday to restrict the spread of pornography on the Internet in China.
"The boom of pornographic content on the Internet has contaminated cyberspace and perverted China's young minds." said Zhang Xinfeng, vice minister of MPS.
In the next six months, Zhang said, the ministries will crack down on illegal on-line activities such as distributing pornographic materials and organizing cyber strip shows, and purge the web of sexually-explicit images, stories, and audio and video clips.
The campaign will also target on illegal on-line lotteries and contraband trade, fraud, and "content that spreads rumors and is of a slanderous nature", said Zhang.
In Nov. 2006, Chinese police cracked the largest pornographic website in the country and arrested the creator Chen Hui, who was later sentenced to life imprisonment.
The website Chen started contained more than nine million pornographic images and articles and it had attracted more than 600,000 registered users.
"The inflow of pornographic materials from abroad and lax domestic control are to blame for the existing problems in China's cyberspace," Zhang said.
China has roughly 123 million Internet users, most of whom are young people. The Chinese government believes they need to be protected from negative on-line influences.
A report by the Beijing Reformatory for Juvenile Delinquents said 33.5 percent of its detainees were influenced by violent on-line games or erotic websites when they committed crimes such as robbery and rape.
http://www.protect-x.com/
BEIJING, April 12 (Xinhua) -- The Ministry of Public Security (MPS), along with nine other government departments, announced the launching of a campaign here Thursday to restrict the spread of pornography on the Internet in China.
"The boom of pornographic content on the Internet has contaminated cyberspace and perverted China's young minds." said Zhang Xinfeng, vice minister of MPS.
In the next six months, Zhang said, the ministries will crack down on illegal on-line activities such as distributing pornographic materials and organizing cyber strip shows, and purge the web of sexually-explicit images, stories, and audio and video clips.
The campaign will also target on illegal on-line lotteries and contraband trade, fraud, and "content that spreads rumors and is of a slanderous nature", said Zhang.
In Nov. 2006, Chinese police cracked the largest pornographic website in the country and arrested the creator Chen Hui, who was later sentenced to life imprisonment.
The website Chen started contained more than nine million pornographic images and articles and it had attracted more than 600,000 registered users.
"The inflow of pornographic materials from abroad and lax domestic control are to blame for the existing problems in China's cyberspace," Zhang said.
China has roughly 123 million Internet users, most of whom are young people. The Chinese government believes they need to be protected from negative on-line influences.
A report by the Beijing Reformatory for Juvenile Delinquents said 33.5 percent of its detainees were influenced by violent on-line games or erotic websites when they committed crimes such as robbery and rape.
http://www.protect-x.com/
posted by Maksim at 12:35 PM
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Google offers UK payments
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By John Oates
Google is launching its payment system, Google Checkout, in the UK.
The service is aimed at merchants rather than for person to person payments and will compete with PayPal and traditional credit and debit cards. The service has been available in the US since June 2006.
Customers use their Google ID - from signing up to Gmail or other services. In the US merchants using the system get a discount when buying Google AdWords - for every £1 spent on AdWords you can process £10 in payments for free. The Checkout logo will also appear next to ads from merchants using the system.
Punters get free fraud protection.
The move gives Google an interest in every stage of online shopping - from search to advertising and payment. ®
http://www.protect-x.com/
By John Oates
Google is launching its payment system, Google Checkout, in the UK.
The service is aimed at merchants rather than for person to person payments and will compete with PayPal and traditional credit and debit cards. The service has been available in the US since June 2006.
Customers use their Google ID - from signing up to Gmail or other services. In the US merchants using the system get a discount when buying Google AdWords - for every £1 spent on AdWords you can process £10 in payments for free. The Checkout logo will also appear next to ads from merchants using the system.
Punters get free fraud protection.
The move gives Google an interest in every stage of online shopping - from search to advertising and payment. ®
http://www.protect-x.com/
posted by Maksim at 12:28 PM
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Move to ban animal porn
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by Andy Clark in The Hague
The Dutch Justice Minister Hirsch Ballin is considering the best way to ban animal pornography. It's currently legal here in the Netherlands, as is sex with animals and a way to ban both is now being sought.
Experts say that because of the lax rules, the Netherlands is the biggest distributor of this sort of pornographic material in the world. It's a market which has grown massively since the arrival of the Internet and parliament now wants to bring an end to this dubious practice.
AgendaThe Party for the Animals has become a political force in the Netherlands since the last election and is putting animal rights high on the political agenda. Party leader Marianna Thieme is insistent that animals shouldn't be sexually abused and exploited for commercial gain: "Like child porn, animal porn is a disturbed human behaviour that we must not tolerate because it's causing suffering for animals and we have to protect them."
No one knows for sure on what scale animal pornography is produced here, but it's in little doubt that the Netherlands is the world's biggest player when it comes to distributing this sort of material.
CampaigningLabour Party MP Harm Evert Waalkens has long campaigned to get a ban on sex with animals and animal pornography. "There are some estimates that 65 percent [of the] trade of these animal porno sites are created in the Netherlands - in that way we are a top country in this perversity."Recent newspaper articles in the Netherlands show that as well as hosting a majority of these websites - between 50 and 70 percent according to various estimates - DVD distribution is also largely in Dutch hands. An inventory of 1500 such films carried out by the Algemeen Dagblad newspaper showed 80 percent were distributed by Dutch companies.
A poster for the Party for the AnimalsMoney being madeBig markets for the films and the websites are the US and Germany, according to researchers. Harm Evert Waalkens says as long as it isn't banned and there's money to be made - then production and distribution will continue. "It is not illegal in the Netherlands and countries surrounding us are taking steps to make it illegal so we are some steps behind." "We have good entrepreneurs who are taking these opportunities, but these are opportunities on the dark side of society and we don't want this anymore."Marianne Thieme says her research in this field has left her shocked as to the extent of the problem here. "If you search on Google then you find only in the Dutch language almost 20,000 hits - it's a big commercial activity and most of this animal porn is made by Dutch people."Currently sex with animals is only banned in the Netherlands if the animal is physically harmed. Animal rights organisations say this is difficult to prove and allows producers of animal pornography free reign to do what they want. But now, following years of lobbying, the justice minister is to draw up an outright ban in the coming months. Not surprisingly the distributors themselves are against this, after all it's an industry worth millions each year.
One anonymous representative from an animal porn distribution company told a Dutch TV news show:
"This is crazy - so much else happens in the world, the question is why do people want to ban this - it's just hypocrisy."However, it's unlikely the practice will continue as everyone in parliament is in favour of the ban, and the minister overseeing it has already expressed his personal disgust at the industry.
According to Harm Evert Waalkens, the ban is long overdue - he says it finally brings the law into line with what the vast majority of Dutch people think.
http://www.protect-x.com/
by Andy Clark in The Hague
The Dutch Justice Minister Hirsch Ballin is considering the best way to ban animal pornography. It's currently legal here in the Netherlands, as is sex with animals and a way to ban both is now being sought.
Experts say that because of the lax rules, the Netherlands is the biggest distributor of this sort of pornographic material in the world. It's a market which has grown massively since the arrival of the Internet and parliament now wants to bring an end to this dubious practice.
AgendaThe Party for the Animals has become a political force in the Netherlands since the last election and is putting animal rights high on the political agenda. Party leader Marianna Thieme is insistent that animals shouldn't be sexually abused and exploited for commercial gain: "Like child porn, animal porn is a disturbed human behaviour that we must not tolerate because it's causing suffering for animals and we have to protect them."
No one knows for sure on what scale animal pornography is produced here, but it's in little doubt that the Netherlands is the world's biggest player when it comes to distributing this sort of material.
CampaigningLabour Party MP Harm Evert Waalkens has long campaigned to get a ban on sex with animals and animal pornography. "There are some estimates that 65 percent [of the] trade of these animal porno sites are created in the Netherlands - in that way we are a top country in this perversity."Recent newspaper articles in the Netherlands show that as well as hosting a majority of these websites - between 50 and 70 percent according to various estimates - DVD distribution is also largely in Dutch hands. An inventory of 1500 such films carried out by the Algemeen Dagblad newspaper showed 80 percent were distributed by Dutch companies.
A poster for the Party for the AnimalsMoney being madeBig markets for the films and the websites are the US and Germany, according to researchers. Harm Evert Waalkens says as long as it isn't banned and there's money to be made - then production and distribution will continue. "It is not illegal in the Netherlands and countries surrounding us are taking steps to make it illegal so we are some steps behind." "We have good entrepreneurs who are taking these opportunities, but these are opportunities on the dark side of society and we don't want this anymore."Marianne Thieme says her research in this field has left her shocked as to the extent of the problem here. "If you search on Google then you find only in the Dutch language almost 20,000 hits - it's a big commercial activity and most of this animal porn is made by Dutch people."Currently sex with animals is only banned in the Netherlands if the animal is physically harmed. Animal rights organisations say this is difficult to prove and allows producers of animal pornography free reign to do what they want. But now, following years of lobbying, the justice minister is to draw up an outright ban in the coming months. Not surprisingly the distributors themselves are against this, after all it's an industry worth millions each year.
One anonymous representative from an animal porn distribution company told a Dutch TV news show:
"This is crazy - so much else happens in the world, the question is why do people want to ban this - it's just hypocrisy."However, it's unlikely the practice will continue as everyone in parliament is in favour of the ban, and the minister overseeing it has already expressed his personal disgust at the industry.
According to Harm Evert Waalkens, the ban is long overdue - he says it finally brings the law into line with what the vast majority of Dutch people think.
http://www.protect-x.com/
posted by Maksim at 12:07 PM
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