Geek Daily

Here is what I found interesting this week.

Unit tests are for functionality, not code!
The prevailing philosophy in regards to unit testing is writing your tests before your code. In practice, this happens a lot less than it should. Why should we write our unit tests first?

Turn Google App Engine into your own Personal Content Delivery Network (CDN)
As anybody who has run a growing website or blog knows, response time is going to get worse with the more users you have visiting your site. The users come from all angles, RSS feeds, homepage visits, search engine visits, people sealing your static files that you host, and pretty much anything else that can be served over HTTP. The solution to this problem is to off load your static content on to a Content Delivery Network or CDN. CDN providers cost a lot of money though, so it is nothing for us mere mortals with one server can afford.

But thanks to Google anyone can now run their own CDN for free on Googles servers. Lucky for you and me Google has made the process really painless and you can even have the CDN under you own domain name. In my case static.coderjournal.com.

10 Universal Truths of SEO
Google is great. I use its services on a daily basis and love the traffic it sends to my websites. As smart SEO professionals point out, however, Google isn’t the only search engine around, and may not be the biggest, baddest search engine on the block forever.

Well do you? SEO is such an important part of running an application or a website. If done properly it can rocket your site to success but if not done properly you can be left in a dazed heap of failure. home painters . So what is SEO?SEO stands for Seach Engine Optimization and means setting up and marketing your website in a way that maximizes your exposure on seach engines. This involves using the proper semantic HTML markup to begin with, writing your content using specific keywords you want to be found for in searches, and getting links back to your site from other popular sites to improve your seach ranking.This may sound simple enough but it is a huge task and requires a lot of insight into the SEO market. So what do you do?Take Dan Durick for example. Dan focuses on car dealer SEO. That’s right the SEO market is large enough to allow for specialization. Each market requires special knowledge and insight to promote a site to it’s full potential.It is clear from reading the articles on Dan’s blog that he knows what he is talking about when it comes to promoting a car dealership website. He demonstrates in one article how the decline in search traffic for dar dealerships is directly representative of the lagging economy. His data shows that sales are down this year and the search traffic follows a similar curve.This skill is important to an SEO. Firstly, it will help you keep your job when you can present the hard, cold facts to a disappointed manager that wants to blame him for the decline in seach traffic. It is also important for the customer so they can understand how things work and how they can adapt to the ever changing seach market.

Here are some interesting stories from this week.

IE 8 strict mode doesn’t allow for CSS opacity?
So the fact that this has been labeled as by design suggests that IE8 will be the only browser produced in the last 10 or so years that will not support opacity in its strictest mode. Thats rediculous.

Google Will Sell Performics, SEOs Exhale
Exciting news from The Official Google blog today that reveals Google will stop scaring SEOs everywhere and will sell off Performics, the search marketing company that they accidentally acquired when they bought DoubleClick last year. To avoid the conflict of interest that comes when you’re a search engine selling search engine optimization services, Google will split Performics into two companies – an affiliate marketing company and a search marketing company – and then sell the search marketing half.

Webforms is dead. Long live MVC!
Scott Hanselman’s fourth screencast *confirms* that the interfaces and abstractions made as part of the MVC (HttpContextBase, IHttpRequest, IHttpResponse, etc.) will not be put into the existing Webforms model. That means that once MVC is released, the old HttpContext object in WebForms will *not* inherit from HttpContextBase, nor will the WebForms versions of HttpRequest and HttpResponse objects implement the interfaces.

But I’m not moving my mouse!
The IE team reacted correctly: the bug has been solved in IE8b1. When the mouse does not move any more the mousemove event stops firing, as it should.

However, this same bug was recently introduced in Safari (Windows) and Opera!

Safari 3.0 and Opera 9.26 support mousemove correctly, but Safari 3.1 and Opera 9.5b have copied the IE bug.

Here are some stories I found interesting this week. Enjoy!

Graham Langdon, Have You Been Naughty?
There is some bad blood boiling as someone is out to smear John Cow. I also blogged about it here.

Killer Writing Strategies
Alex Shalman shares his secrets on how to write killer articles, and make money doing it.

Microsoft Submits Windows 7 for Antitrust Review
Is the Windows 7 beta just around the corner and can Microsoft recover from their embarrassing Vista debocal?

Tough Times for GoDaddy
Are hard times a head for GoDaddy after these disturbing accusations?

Google has laid the smack down on a number of sites which has affected a lot of companies, websites, and blogs all over the Web. They have made changes to their algorithm that determines and passes PageRank to the sites it indexes.

The Smack Downs

This alone would be enough to get people buzzing and even some hopping mad but what has really got the blogoshere up in arms is the manual penalties it has handed out to many sites, bloggers in particular.

It seems nobody is out of Google’s reach. Top bloggers like John Chow have been virtually removed from Google’s search results where they once were on the first page for their keywords.

Bloggers that use PayPerPost have seen their PageRank wiped out essentially killing their value to PPP.

So what is the reason for these attacks?

Well it is simple. Google has laid out the rules regarding manipulating their PageRank and search result systems. The people that got smacked were clearly in violation of these rules. they gamed the system and finally got caught. Yes there was some callateral damage to other sites related to or affiliated with the penalized sites but we all knew what these guys were doing was in violation of Google’s rules.

So stop whining already. Yes you may have been wiped from the face of the Google Earth but if you had half a brain you’d have seen it coming. John Chow saw it coming. He has said from the beginning not to put your eggs in Google’s basket. Luckily he follows his own advice and has reported an increase in revenue since the changes even though he doesn’t even rank for his own name!

I don’t want to hear anymore about PPP their whole business model was built on Google’s PageRank. Not only did it defy all the guidelines Google set it was a stupid business model to begin with. Sure it made lots of money for a while but when you build your business on an ever-shifting foundation like Google’s PageRank then you are just asking to get whooped!

Come on people have a little sense and look at the long term picture!

Tough changes to AdSense

On the other side of the coin AdSense publishers have been brutally hit and from no fault of their own.

Google has drastically reduced referral commissions in just about every area, reduced CTR by narrowing the click area of the ads, and in a shockingly stupid move alienated a huge protion of their publishers by refusing to pay bloggers outside of North America, Latin America, and Japan.

I fail to see the reasoning behind why the bloggers pysical location has anything to due with it. If they are trying to target specific areas for their advertisers then why not only pay for clicks from USERS in those areas and ignore the others. That alone would be a big hit to publishers but to deny based on geographic location is just dumb!

They are slapping some of their biggest promoters and publishers in the face, like ProBlogger.

There are theories that Google is trying to prop up poor profits but we’ll have to see. At least advertisers will be happy as these changes save them money.

Content is the king of any site. There are instances when your article does not get picked up by search engine in spite of having a strong content. In this case, article linking will be very effective. If you link your site to any other popular site, then there is the maximum possibility of your content to get noticed. Marketing of your site can only make your content read by a large number of visitors. Article syndication is nothing but a powerful marketing tool. It is totally different from search engine optimization. By adopting this method, you can popularize your article and your site. For this reason, it is very important that you keep your content original.Article syndication links up your article to various well known sites. tampa dog groomer . For this, it requires an informative content. However, there are many writers that pay a foul game with content. They use those keywords in their content which are widely searched but do not have anything to do with the original content. If this is the scenario, then that site will not be picked up by any popular sites and in the later period of time it will be banned. While writing content, the content writer should be well versed with keyword density, meta tags, alt tag etc. An article is a very strong weapon of any site. If an article is not interesting and informative then adopting article syndication also will not be make your site visible. So, it is very important that you make your content highly readable, interesting and up-to-date. Always try to freshen up your site.If your site is not noticed by any one then your effort to write new content will ended in smoke. Article syndication will link your article to another site and make people noticed your article and read it. In this way, the site and the article will become popular. To start with it, a site should hire a content writer to write articles for their website. After writing the content it is necessary to post the article in all the well known sites. The article should have the link of its site. It is very important that the article is submitted in all the popular bookmarking sites. Even if a surfer does not have any idea regarding your site, through bookmarking he will able to reach your site. In this way, your site will get a new visitor.Article syndication will increase traffic and increase sales. It is all about marketing your article in all the popular sites. Before writing article, one should do some basic research on the keywords. There are many keywords tool that can be make into use while writing content. If your article has required number of keywords than only it will get picked up by popular site like Google, MSN, Yahoo etc. There are many websites that do an extensive study on how to advertise its article. One can also take the help of those sites and get ideas from them as how to advertise their product. Home Insurance Comparison . By adopting this method, one can popularize its article as well as popularize its site.Author Info:Steve Waganer has specialization in web marketing. He is expert in search engine optimization,article syndication,search engine marketing firm,social media optimization.To get the SEO tips from,SEO firm for your website to get high rank and top position in major search engines visit www.cometsearchenginemarketing.com

By Shelley LoweryIf you spend any time surfing the Internet, you’ve probably encountered a few error messages.Error messages have numerous causes, such as misspellings, outdated links or internal server errors. When an error is encountered, your server will display specific generic error pages according to the error. These error pages are not only dead ends, but they are also very frustrating for your potential visitors.When your visitors mistype your web address or click on an outdated link and receive the dreaded error page, they’ll most-likely click on their back button and never return. However, you can recover a majority of your lost visitors simply by taking the time to create some customized, user friendly error pages.As servers run different types of software and do not function in the same manner, there isn’t a simple method for creating custom error pages that will work with every system. However, if you have your own domain and your site is hosted on a Unix/Linux server running Apache, this article will assist you in creating custom error pages.If you’re not sure what type of server you’re on, visit the following web address to find out:http://uptime.netcraft.com/up/graph/Before we begin, keep in mind, editing your server files is serious business. Even one small typographical error can wreak havoc — make sure you make a backup copy of any file you’re planning to edit.Guidelines for creating your error pages:1. Create your error pages in standard HTML — just as you would create any other web page for your site.2. Don’t alarm your visitors. mobile detailing . Never include the word “ERROR” in large, bold text. Your visitors may immediately become alarmed and think they’ve done something to cause the error. Instead, be apologetic and encourage your visitors to click on the navigational links to locate additional resources and information.3. Your error pages should look just like the rest of your web pages. Each error page should contain good navigational links, a search feature, and provide information in regard to the specific error they received.If you’d like to see an example error page, visit the following web address:http://www.web-source.net/error.htmOnce you’ve created an error page, save it as the error name. For example, if you’re creating a customized error page for a 400 Bad Request error, your page should be saved as 400.html.Here are some of the more common errors:400 Bad Request401 Authorization Required403 Forbidden404 File Not Found405 Method Not Allowed500 Internal Server Error501 Method Not Implemented502 Bad Gateway503 Service Temporarily UnavailableOnce you’ve created your pages, you’ll need to access your server via FTP and create a new folder called “errordocs” where you store your HTML files. Upload your new error documents into your new folder.Your next step will be to locate your .htaccess file and download it to your computer. (If you use FrontPage to publish your web pages, you cannot customize the .htaccess file, as FrontPage uses the .htaccess file. Editing the file may cause errors in your configuration.) The .htaccess file should be located on your server where you store your HTML files.If the .htaccess file isn’t visible, you can create one within a plain text editor. However, you must first make sure your server isn’t configured to hide the file. Your FTP program should enable you to choose to display hidden files and folders on your server.Once you’ve downloaded your .htaccess file, open it within a plain text editor, such as Note Pad, and add the following lines below any other text that may be present:ErrorDocument 400 /errordocs/400.htmlErrorDocument 401 /errordocs/401.htmlErrorDocument 403 /errordocs/403.htmlErrorDocument 404 /errordocs/404.htmlErrorDocument 405 /errordocs/405.htmlErrorDocument 500 /errordocs/500.htmlErrorDocument 501 /errordocs/501.htmlErrorDocument 502 /errordocs/502.htmlErrorDocument 503 /errordocs/503.htmlIf you’re creating your own .htaccess file, open a plain text editor and add the above lines.When typing in the information, make certain you type it exactly as it appears above. You can include the error documents of your choice.Once the file is complete, save it as .htaccess and upload it to your server, via FTP in ASCII mode, where you store your HTML files.For additional information on File Transfer Protocol (FTP) you may visit:http://www.web-source.net/ftp_basics.htmIf you have a Windows operating system, you will be unable to save the file as .htaccess. You’ll need to save it as htaccess.txt. Once you upload the file to your server, you can rename it to .htaccess.That’s all there is to it. When your visitors click on an outdated link, your custom error page will now be displayed.Creating your own custom error pages is well worth the time and effort, as they will enable you to recover an unlimited number of your visitors. If you follow this step by step guide, you can have your pages up and running in no time.Copyright Shelley LoweryAbout the Author:Shelley Lowery is the author of the acclaimed web design course, Web Design Mastery. http://www.webdesignmastery.com And, Ebook Starter – Give Your Ebooks the look and feel of a REAL book. http://www.ebookstarter.com Visit Web-Source.net to sign up for a complimentary subscription to Etips and receive a copy of the acclaimed ebook, “Killer Internet Marketing Strategies.” http://www.web-source.net

by Shelley LoweryWhen you’re ready to launch your web site and you’re trying to select a good domain name, there are many factors that need to be taken into consideration.Select a Domain Name that Reflects Your Web SiteAbove all else, your domain name should reflect what your web site is all about. For example, if your web site is about grooming a dog, you certainly wouldn’t want to select a domain name like ‘mybusinessname.com,’ as this would have nothing to do with your web site’s focus. You would want to select a domain name that tells the world what your web site is all about — something like ‘doggrooming.com.’Select a Domain Name that Contains Your Web Site’s KeywordsAnother consideration of great importance are your keywords. Try to select a domain name that contains your most relevant keyword phrase, as some Search Engines place relevancy on them. A keyword phrase is two or more words that best describe your web page. If your web page is focusing on grooming a dog, your best keyword phrase will be “dog grooming.”Select a Domain Name that will be Easily RememberedWith millions of web sites accessible on the Internet, it is also very important to select a domain name that will be easily remembered. As in the ‘doggrooming.com’ example above, ‘doggrooming.com’ is very easily remembered, contains the most relevant keyword phrase and describes the web site in explicit detail. Domestic Cleaning London . It is the ‘perfect’ domain name for this particular web site.Select the Best Domain ExtensionAnother consideration of importance is the domain name extension. Although there are many new domain extensions available, dotcom is still the best choice. When typing in a web address, Internet users automatically want to type in a .com extension, as this is the extension that has been embedded into our brains from the start.Avoid Using Numbers in Your Domain NameAlthough you may be tempted to do so, avoid using numbers within your domain name. Including a number within your domain name can cause problems, as when you tell someone your web address, you will continually have to tell them it’s a number and not the word. For example, if you selected a domain name like number1host.com, if you were to tell someone your web address, they may try to type it as ‘numberonehost.com’ instead of ‘number1host.com.’ This type of domain name would cause confusion.Avoid using Dashes and Underscores in Your Domain NameAlthough many people do it, don’t make the same mistake I made when I first started out. Avoid using dashes, underscores or any other characters within your domain name that may cause confusion. When I registered my domain name, Web-Source.net, I actually wanted websource.com; however, it had already been registered. So, I settled for Web-Source.net. Now, when I tell someone my domain name, I have to say it like this: web dash source dot net.Don’t get me wrong, www.Web-Source.net is now a high traffic web site, but I can only imagine how much traffic I’ve lost over the years due to my domain name. Panasonic drills . I have received many emails over the years from visitors who had a hard time finding my site. They said they couldn’t remember the domain name and kept wanting to type in websource.com.Avoid using Abbreviations within Your Domain NameAlthough well-known companies, such as IBM, can get away with using abbreviations within their domain name, most companies can’t. As a rule, try to avoid using abbreviations or anything that will be difficult for your visitors to remember. Not only will this cause confusion, but it can also cause your potential visitors to make spelling mistakes when trying to type in your web address.Avoid using Long Domain NamesAlthough you may now register long domain names, it’s really not a good idea. Domestic Cleaning London . I learned this lesson the hard way. I registered ‘www.workfromhomebusinessguide.com’ and the sad thing is … I can’t remember the domain name half the time. How can I expect my potential visitors to remember it? Try to keep your domain name as short as possible. The longer the domain name the harder it is to remember and the more apt your potential visitors are to make a typo when typing it into their browser.Ensure Your Domain Name is Not a Trademark InfringementPrior to registering a domain name, you may want to consider searching the Trademark Electronic Search System, http://www.uspto.gov/main/trademarks.htm to ensure your potential domain name isn’t infringing on any trademarks.Please don’t take this point lightly, as trademark infringement could cost you your entire business. It is your responsibility to ensure that your potential domain name doesn’t infringe on any registered trademarks, as the trademark laws that apply in the hard copy world also apply on the Internet. Any company that registers a trademark has the right to protect their trademark and has the right to notify you that your domain name is infringing upon their trademark.When you’re ready to begin, create a list of a dozen or more potential domain names, as chances are, your first choice will already be taken. With any luck, one of the domain names on your list will be available.Take your time and select a quality domain name that will grow with your business. It will be well-worth your time and effort in the long run.About the Author:Shelley Lowery is the author of the acclaimed web design course, Web Design Mastery. http://www.webdesignmastery.com Visit Web-Source.net to sign up for your complimentary subscription to Etips and receive a copy of Shelley’s acclaimed ebooks, “Killer Internet Marketing Strategies” and “Work from Home: A Complete Guide…” http://www.web-source.net

CNET has published an article on the 2007 Top 100 Most Pwerful Brands results done by researcher Millward Brown Optimor.This year Google has beat out Microsoft for the top spot by doubling it’s rank from last year.

“Google is an absolutely phenomenal brand in the sense that it is very clear what it stands for and it has perceived leadership and innovation,” Peter Walshe, global brands director at Millward Brown Optimor, told Silicon.com.

Microsoft came in third this year with a brand value of $55 billion. Fellow tech companies in the top 10 are China Mobile, in fifth place, and IBM, in ninth.It’s the second year in a row a tech brand has beaten household names such as Coca-Cola, Marlboro and Toyota.Top 101. Google–$66.4 billion2. General Electric–$61.9 billion3. Microsoft–$55 billion4. Coca-Cola–$44.1 billion5. China Mobile–$41.2 billion6. larry h miller . Marlboro–$39.2 billion7. Wal-Mart–$36.9 billion8. Citigroup–$33.7 billion9. IBM–$33.6 billion10. Toyota Motor–$33.4 billion

By: Andrew D. IveThe dot com era proved that just building it isn’t enough. The chicken and the egg issue exists -you need customers to get customers… and attempting to launch a web site, is that issue on steroids. So, how to get traction?Here are Ten FREE Traction building Ideas we are trying:1) Email Your Friends:Find everyone you know that relates to your target market and introduce them to your website via email… as you know them, leverage every piece of emotional capital you have with them to encourage them to take a look at your new site and join.2) Ask Your Friends to Refer Others:If you send an email to people who are your target market, clearly articulate why it is valuable to ‘THEM’ (not just you) to join your site… and then ask and make it easy for them to refer people they know. Here’s an example of an email I wrote that asks for a referral -”Please forward to anyone that may be interested… entrepreneurs, advisors, people with Blogs, press contacts etc! Even forwarding to four or five contacts will make a big difference for us!Happy New Year and thanks!++I’ve just discovered a new web service bringing potential business advisors together with entrepreneurs and early stage businesses. For Advisors – It’s a great way to discover new deal flow and get involved in a hot new company. For Entrepreneurs – a great way to take your business to the next level in 2007!The site is called Advisor Garage – http://www.AdvisorGarage.com and was recently featured in Business Week!Please sign up and forward this email to great advisors and entrepreneurs.++After three or four weeks of steps 1 & 2 we found that we had begun to get a few people onboard… So now what?3) Write a Press Release and get it OUT there…I can almost hear a few folks swallowing and already considering looking for the next blog… it really isn’t that tough and it isn’t expensive. In fact, its FREE! Don’t believe me? Consider signing up to PR Leap (http://www.prleap.com/learn_more). nor cal . Not only do they have some good articles which explain for dummies (like me!) how to write a press release but they also offer a free submission service to multiple channels such as Google News, Google Search, Yahoo! Search, Topix.net, Technorati, MSN, Ask News, Moreover, NewsNow and others. According to their website – PR Leap is the best way to send your news release(s) to all major search engines, newswires, and websites. And basic accounts are free!So what happened with us? Well we signed up, created a one page press release (took about 30 minutes), submitted it and it was approved earlier today. It will appear tomorrow. If you are interested, the link to the press release is: http://www.prleap.com/pr/61185/The basic plan (read… Free) comes with stats, so I’ll let you know in a few days if the press release was actually read by anyone and if it was picked up by any sites, bloggers, press etc. Let’s see how good PR Leap and our press release writing skills are!4) A Personalized Toolbar:A great startup called Conduit (http://www.Conduit.com) offers people the opportunity to create their own, personalized toolbar for FREE. Conduit has a wizard embedded within their website which takes you through the setup process step-by-step. It took about twenty minutes and once you’re done, they create a link to your toolbar download site which you can then share through an email signature or through a click through download on your new networking site. jeff wyler . There are a number of cool ways to tailor the toolbar… your branded search, create links to particular pages on your own site, add weather, a radio and so on to make sure its a value download for your customers.5) Design Your Site with the Customer In Mind and Make Inviting Others EasyIf, like us, your marketing budget is measured by the quarters rattling around in your pocket, then do your site a favor and design it so the ‘Invite Others’ button is never far away. No matter what page the users happen to be on. Bold it, make it big, underline it if you have to but referrals from happy customers are always easier to get than attracting new customers.6) Friends & Contacts Revisisted:Do any of your friends know anyone in the press or people who have blogs ? Well you won’t know until you ask… ASK!7) Join Linked In (http://www.linkedin.com)If you haven’t already, consider joining linked in. Yes, its another networking site, and you could consider them the compeitition (In your dreams!)… but after joining you can search through the directory and find people that may either a) be interested in joining your site or b) encouraging others to do so. If you aren’t a member already, take a look8) Groups & Forums:Are there Yahoo (http://groups.yahoo.com) or Google Groups (http://groups.google.com) or other online forums that include the types of people you want to attract to your new networking site? If so, join them but beware… most groups want members to contribute to the discussions and no groups appreciate spam. So find the best forums for your target customers, join and spend some time getting to know what subjects are being discussed. Give it a week or two then jump in and add some value… and make sure that your post includes your email and perhaps the web address. If it is valuable, then members may check out your new site…One last thing, if there aren’t any good groups with your target customers… consider creating your own… and make it it feeds your new networking site. Here’s one I started and yes… I know it only has a few members… but its more links in the internet for your website which appears in your google or Alexa results: http://groups.google.com/group/Harvard_Entrepreneurs_Startups?lnk=oa&hl=en9) Write to your Existing Members:Do you have a few members? If so, email them occassionally (Not every day!) and remind them of the value of your site… perhaps highlight a particularly useful tool or feature of your website. Maybe reach out to some of the individual members and ask them if you can write about them joining the site, a person feature if you will. At the bottom of each of these emails… give them a few sentences (above for example) to send on to others they know. Stress how much you would appreciate their help and how important they are to you and your young business.10) Drum roll… .badda badda badda… .Create a Blog!Here’s hoping that a blog is the tenth and most valuable means of getting the message out there about a new networking site. (WordPress.com is FREE)

Author: Grigore AlexanderLink Popularity, the make or break element for Search Engine RankingsLink popularity is the single most influential factor for determining how well a web site will perform in search engine rankings. A web site’s link popularity is computed from the number and more importantly, the quality of links pointing to a web site.Link Popularity history:To gain a better understanding of link popularity it is useful to know why it became so crucial for search engine rankings. In the past a web page’s ranking was determined, amongst other factors, by the number of keyword occurences within ‘on-page’ elements i.e. in page text, META tags, title tag. When web developers learned that they could trick a search engine to return their web pages by cramming keywords into their pages the search engines had to get a bit smarter. They were using ‘on-page’ elements to determine relevance so it was only natural that they would look to elements out of direct control of the web page creator i.e. ‘off-page’ elements. Search engines made the assumption that the greater the number of links from other sites pointing to a web site, the more popular the web site is and therefore a more quality resource. This worked nicely in theory but in practice it was also to be abused.Web site owners figured out many ways to get links pointing to their web sites one example of which was through the use of link farms, pages the contained nothing more than a collection of links, Quantity of links was being abused so the search engines made use of the old saying “quality not quantity” and began to assign a quality factor to each of the links pointing to a web site. Now web sites that had a higher number of high quality links were looked upon favourably by the search engines. Building link popularity became a science in itself and today is still the most time-consuming and frustrating activity for a search engine optimizer.Main classes of links:Note: In the following examples SiteA is our web site and SiteB is an outside site (i.e. eye specialist . a web site under a different domain name than SiteA).Inbound links:Inbound links to a web site are links that originate from an outside web site . An example would be a link on SiteB pointing into a page on SiteA.SiteA SiteBThere are two further classifications of links:Reciprocal links:An example of a reciprocal link is when SiteA links to SiteB AND SiteB links to SiteA, the link is reciprocated by both parties.SiteA —–> SiteBANDSiteA <—– SiteBOne-way links:An example of a one-way link is when either SiteA links to SiteB OR SiteB links to SiteA, it is one-way only.SiteA SiteBTo achieve a high link popularity the type of links to build are inbound one-way links. This simulates how natural links are created i.e. links that people create to point to your site because they found it worth linking to.For outbound links it is natural to assume that they might decrease link popularity of a web site but this is not true. You do not give away your link popularity when you link to another site. They do not add to your link popularity though.Reciprocal links can add to your link popularity if the web site that you exchange links with has a higher link popularity than your site. However they are not as powerful as inbound, one-way links as they are quite artificial in nature i.e. most probably created by communication between the owners of both sites.How to build link popularity:So it is quite obvious that to help build up a nice link popularity many inbound, one-way links need to be created. This can be achieved in a number of different (and most importantly, legal) ways:Directories:Directories are categorized listings of links from around the web. Many, many directories exist and vary in their methods of getting your link posted on them. They provide a great source of quality inbound, one-way links. groves attorney . Getting listed in quality directories such as DMOZ or Yahoo can be more beneficial for your link popularity than a lot of links from smaller, newer directories. Directories are discussed in my Directories articleGreat site content:The most powerful way to get inbound, one-way links is to have great site content that other web sites will want to link to. This allows you to get links from sites other than directories, which can definitely be better. The best thing about this is that it requires no communication on your part, it just happens naturally. If your site has poor content then others sites may not link, including the directories. Most of the top ranking web sites today got to the top because of great content. Writing interesting and informative articles for your web site is a good way of getting these kind of links.Emailing web site owners:If you come across a listing of links on a web site other than a directory e.g. a links page on a somebody’s personal web site, it can do no harm to write the web site owner a polite email requesting a link to your site from their page. They may request a reciprocal link in return but sometimes they do not and you can get a quality inbound, one-way link for your efforts. I have got many links in the past using this method. In my email I always ask them to visit my site first before making a decision to link and I personalise each email with a comment or two about their site.back to topSummary:The best and most effective way of increasing your search engine rankings is working to improve your web site’s link popularity. This can be achieved by getting as many inbound, one-way links as you can from quality sites such as directories. Other ways to get these links are having great content on your site and requesting a link to your site from other web sites.Increasing link popularity is a time-consuming and sometimes frustrating process but is definitely worth the time and effort when you see a dramatic increase in traffic.

By Kalena Jordan

When you write web site content and design your pages, do you truly act with your target audience in mind? Or do you think global and act local?

I am amazed at the number of web sites I see that claim to target a global market, yet design and write their content for a regionally-specific audience. Not sure what I mean? Take the site I saw yesterday, for example. I won’t embarrass the site owners by pointing to the specific domain, but let’s just say the site is based in the U.S. and sells high quality gold chains throughout North America, Europe and Australia.

Now the owner of this site was complaining loudly in a webmaster forum that his pay-per-click campaign was having no luck converting sales from overseas visitors, particularly in the UK and Australia. He had spent a long time developing and tweaking a landing page for the campaign and he couldn’t work out why hardly anyone outside the U.S. was buying. I took a look at his landing page and could see the problems straight away:

1) He used the American English spelling “jewelry” throughout the page without considering that persons who use British English spell it “jewellery”.

2) He provided a toll-free phone number for persons in the U.S. to call, but did not provide any contact phone number for persons located outside the U.S.

3) He used the word “national” throughout the page, immediately isolating anyone outside the U.S.

4) He promoted “free shipping throughout the U.S.” but did not specify shipping costs for persons outside the U.S.

The owner of this site had not even considered that persons outside the U.S. might search for keywords in anything other than American English. It didn’t even occur to him that there may be an alternative spelling of his main keyword and he didn’t think about the logistics for purchasers outside his country. No wonder the page wasn’t converting outside the U.S.! He had made the classic mistake of isolating a large chunk of his audience by sending everyone to a one-size-fits-some page.

What he should have done was to create a separate landing page using British English spelling and shipping/contact information applicable to persons overseas. He could then have set up a unique PPC campaign targeting only UK/Australian searchers with regional keywords and ads leading to the British English landing page.

I see similar problems occur quite often in the online travel industry where you not only have to deal with regional spelling options, but also regional jargon. Think about the word “accommodation”. Apart from the fact the word is commonly misspelled, it is used most often in the UK, Australia and New Zealand to describe places to stay while traveling. In the U.S., the words “accommodations” and “lodging” are more commonly used. Same goes for “holiday” and “vacation”, with the latter being more common in the U.S. The word “traveling” itself is spelled “travelling” in British English! So you can imagine the minefield of problems webmasters must face promoting their travel sites online to a worldwide audience.

I don’t mean to single out a particular country, but Americans seem to find it especially difficult to step outside their regional mindset. I am always receiving emails from the U.S. with helpful suggestions for fixing my “spelling mistakes”.

The funniest email exchange I ever had in relation to this was from an American web designer. She had seen our Australian-based web site (with a .com.au domain) and emailed me to tell me it was “full of errors” and that if I wanted to present a professional business to site visitors, I should correct them. So condescending! I asked her to elaborate and she pointed me to these words she felt were spelled incorrectly:

optimisation
counselling
organised
enrolment
colour
catalogue
favourite
centre

Resisting the urge to use a few offensive words I’m sure she would recognize, I tactfully explained that our site was only targeting the Australian market and that we use British English spelling in Australia. Her response? Perhaps if we wanted to be taken seriously by an international audience, we should consider using the “more proper” American English. Flabbergasted, I pointed out the fact that American English was a derivative of British English and was not widely used outside her own country. Wikipedia has more about the differences between the two here. And let’s not forget that although it is the most common language used on the web, English is used by less than 30 percent of the world’s total Internet users.

The point of this story is that you absolutely have to think outside your market if you are going to advertise on the web. As ignorant as she was, my email friend did make me realize that many of her compatriots might also think our site was full of errors. American English is more common on the web and I’ve since learned to cater to that trend. I try to remember that in all writing I do for the web now, whether it’s in my daily blog, the syndicated articles I write regularly or web page content.

Whenever you design or write for a web site that has an international audience, make sure you address each market. It pays to undertake detailed keyword research into your markets you are targeting so you can capture the correct regional jargon and spelling that people are searching for. Remember it’s not enough to think global, you’ve got to act global too.

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About the Author:

Article by Kalena Jordan, one of the first search engine optimization experts in Australia, who is well known and respected in the industry, particularly in the U.S. As well as running a daily Search Engine Advice Column, Kalena manages Search Engine College – an online training institution offering instructor-led short courses and downloadable self-study courses in Search Engine Optimization and other Search Engine Marketing subjects.

By Kalena Jordan

Google AdSense is fast becoming the preferred way for people to earn an income online. Forget eBay and multiple affiliate programs – Whether you are a work-at-home mom trying to make a little extra cash or an Internet entrepreneur with hundreds of monetized websites, AdSense is truly the easiest way to earn money.

Simply sign up for a free account, grab your ad code and paste it in your site. But here’s the amazing thing – no matter how much money AdSense is making for you right now, a few simple tweaks can increase that amount considerably. And I should know, after learning about these tricks, I more than doubled my AdSense commissions!

The self-proclaimed AdSense gurus and experts are sharing this insider knowledge, for a fee. You can learn all these secrets from them, as long as you buy their e-book, sign up for their seminar or purchase their newsletter. But I’m going to share all their AdSense tricks for free. Here they are:

1) Color code your ads to match your web site palette *exactly*. Don’t use frames around your ads. Instead, in the AdSense code generation interface, make sure you choose the same color as your page background for the ad frame and the ad background.

When choosing the ad heading colors, match them to the *exact* color of your page headings. Use the exact same ad background shade as your page background. Use the exact same ad text font and color as the text on your pages. You can see an example of this color-matching on my search engine advice blog – notice the 4 link ad unit and skyscraper text ad unit on the left hand side under the headings Ads by Google as you scroll down the page? The link and text colors are identical to the color palette used throughout the rest of the page.

Near enough is NOT good enough. If you can’t quite get the color matching right, use Google’s built in color palette together with the RGB to HEX or vice versa color converter on this page. That handy little tool was a life saver for me.

This is probably the one single tweak that made the most difference to my commission levels.

2) Try not to use the traditional horizontal banner style or leaderboard image ads because people are blind to them.

3) Use Google’s own AdSense optimization tips and visual heat map to assist you in deciding where on your page to place your AdSense ad code.

4) Research competitive keywords using a keyword research tool such as Keyword Discovery or grab a list of the most popular keywords from various sources and use them in your web site pages where relevant. This article is a good source of frequently searched keywords. Targeting popular keywords should trigger AdSense ads on your pages that utilize those keywords. The more popular the keyword or phrase, the higher AdWords advertisers are generally willing to pay per click for it so the higher your commission on those clicks.

5) Incorporate the AdSense code into your page so that the ads look like a regular part of your site. You can see an example of this on the Internet Dating Stories site where link ads are incorporated within the regular left hand navigation of the site under the heading “Sponsor Links”.

6) Use Google’s new 4 and 5 link ad units wherever possible. They seem to have a much higher Click Through Rate (CTR) than regular ad styles. You can view all the AdSense ad formats here.

7) Place images next to your ads to attract the eyes. You can see this in place on the search engine article library page at the bottom where 3 images draw your attention to the bottom of the page. But be careful here – the use of arrows or symbols enticing viewers to click are NOT allowed by Google and publishers may NOT label the Google ads with text other than “sponsored links” or “advertisements”.

Use the full allowance of multiple AdSense ads on each of your pages – 3 regular AdSense ads, plus 1 link unit. Use careful placement of these ads so they blend into your site and don’t distract from your content. Clever use of this allowance can be seen on this page about bad Internet dating stories where you see:

- 1 horizontal 4 link ad unit towards the top of the page under the first paragraph
- 1 vertical skyscraper text ad unit about halfway down the left hand side under “Sponsor Links”
- 1 vertical skyscraper image ad unit down the left hand side under “Sponsor Links”
- 1 horizontal text banner unit at the bottom of the page with images above each ad.

You can also include 1 AdSense referral button in addition to the 3 other units.

9) Tailor your page content to a particular niche or focus. Page content that is tailored towards a specific theme is more likely to trigger AdWords ads that closely match the content and are therefore more likely to interest your visitors and inspire them to click. Don’t create pages merely for the sake of placing AdSense ads. Visitors (and search engines) can see through this ruse in an instant.

10) Use custom Ad Channels for each of your ad placements, for example, “Top 5 Link Unit Blue Palette” or “Left Side Navigation Image Skyscraper” etc. Tweak, track and measure the success of each of these custom channels so you know what gives you the highest CTR. Some ad formats and colors will work better than others, but you won’t know which until you test, test and test some more!

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The above article may be re-published as long as the following paragraph is included at the end of the article and as long as you link to the URL mentioned below:

Article by Kalena Jordan, one of the first search engine optimization experts in Australia, who is well known and respected in the industry, particularly in the U.S. As well as running her own SEO business, Kalena manages Search Engine College, an online training institution offering instructor-led short courses and downloadable self-study courses in Search Engine Optimization and Search Engine Marketing subjects.

By Kalena Jordan

With the increasing uptake of social media sites such as Digg, Technorati, Slashdot, YouTube and MySpace, together with community bookmarking sites like Del.icio.us, Reddit and Ma.gnolia, companies the world over can reach their target markets via a whole new channel.

Social networking is like viral marketing on steroids. Companies can release a new product in the morning and have it talked about by millions of users on thousands of sites by the afternoon.

The good news is that social media is user driven. The bad news is that social media is user driven. Yes, there’s the rub. Users are fickle creatures – they can love a product one minute and then drop it like a lead balloon the next, depending on their experience with the product, a rumor, or whether they have had their morning coffee yet. And if their experience is bad, the noise is generally louder. To protect their reputations it’s not just journalists that companies have to impress these days. It’s anyone with a computer and an Internet connection. Love it or hate it, the user community now has enormous power over the online reputation of a company or brand.

Not surprisingly, businesses and individuals alike clamor for the attention and mostly enjoy the limelight that social media can bring. Others hate the intense scrutiny that often accompanies the popularity. An example is usability blogger Kim Krause Berg’s unpleasant first experience of Digg – I Don’t Digg Being Dugg.

Online communities can even bring a site to its knees. Marketers are calling it the “Digg Effect” or the “Slashdot Effect”. Buzz for a site can cause more than good or bad publicity. As Kim found out, the effect can cause traffic overload sometimes resulting in site downtime and lost business.

Social media can also kill the reputation of a brand instantly. Take the Microsoft Windows Vista Laptop Scandal for instance. No stranger to the benefits of social media, Microsoft had allegedly tried to exploit the power of the blogosphere at the end of last year, by sending a number of A-list bloggers a free Acer Ferrari laptop loaded with the yet-to-be-released Windows Vista and Office 2007.

The pitch was a request for the bloggers to “review” the new Windows software in their influential blogs. Many bloggers did write a review, but some did not disclose their free gift. When this fact was discovered later, the bloggers were hammered by large portions of the blogosphere for what they saw as a clear conflict of interest. Microsoft were tagged both literally and figuratively as bribers and Windows Vista was widely panned with parody tag lines such as “Vista: So Bad We Had to Give it Away”. Not a great start to an online product release.

Another example of the damage that social networking can do to a company’s online reputation is the National Pork Board of America’s recent battle with breastfeeding advocate and well-known blogger Jennifer Laycock. Jennifer was sent a harshly worded letter from the Pork Board’s representing counsel, threatening her with legal action for allegedly stealing their pro-pork slogan “Pork: The Other White Meat” in a pro-breastfeeding t-shirt she had designed that read “The Other White Milk”.

The letter suggested that their case for trademark infringement was probably solid. Unfortunately for the Pork Board, the poorly-worded letter also suggested that they were insensitive to breastfeeding mothers and the plight of starving infants. The Pork Board didn’t count on Jennifer’s influence in the blogosphere and the power of social networking to carry her defiant response to the world. The Pork Board ended up receiving bags of hate mail and thousands of flame emails via their online contact form, forcing them to issue a public apology to Jennifer from the Board’s CEO and a generous donation to the Mother’s Milk Bank of Ohio in order to save face.

To their credit, the Pork Board did the right thing. They also made sure that all persons who complained about their approach to Jennifer received a polite, measured email response from the CEO. As a former PR consultant myself, I tip my hat at them. Having the apology come from the very top is smart. It demonstrates how seriously they took the complaints. The wording of the complainant response is polite and restrained. Addressing each and every complainer personally is impressive. It would’ve been tempting to ignore all the flames and issue some stock standard release.

Their choice of legal team may have been questionable, but the Pork Board’s public relations team mobilized quickly, upgraded to full damage control mode and did a great job of mopping up the PR mess before it spread too far. Social media might have damaged them, but the Pork Board’s reputation was ultimately salvaged by quick thinking and a swift online response.

Such situations underscore the growing importance of online reputation management (ORM) in our Web 2.0, social media-driven world. Companies should be tracking their online reputation on a daily basis to check for negative commentary via social media in order to avert potential PR disasters. Major search marketing players such as Andy Beal recognized the potential growth in ORM a long time ago. But I wonder how many PR/Search Marketing agencies currently offer this service?

With brand reputation increasingly at risk, you can be sure the smart agencies will be adding ORM to their service offerings faster than you can say “Can you Digg it?”

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About the Author:

Article by Kalena Jordan, one of the first search engine optimization experts in Australia, who is well known and respected in the industry, particularly in the U.S. As well as running a daily Search Engine Advice Column, Kalena manages Search Engine College – an online training institution offering instructor-led short courses and downloadable self-study courses in Search Engine Optimization and other Search Engine Marketing subjects.

By Kalena Jordan

Is your web site search engine compatible? Despite all the misinformation out there, it’s very easy to design a web site that search engines will love. All you need to do is follow 3 simple steps:

1) Obey the Search Engine Guidelines

Nearly all search engines publish their own guidelines regarding the submission of sites, the type of sites they will accept and recommendations for optimized content. Google recently updated their Webmaster Guidelines which cover the most common forms of deceptive or manipulative search engine behavior that they consider to be ‘spam’. They also published SEO Guidelines – advice for webmasters to heed when choosing an SEO. Google was the first search engine to publicly acknowledge search engine optimizers in this fashion.

It’s not just Google publishing anti-spam guidelines. You’ll find them at the following search engine sites as well:

* Yahoo terms of service
* Yahoo guidelines on search engine spam (covering AltaVista and AllTheWeb as well)
* Yahoo definitions of search engine spam (covering AltaVista and AllTheWeb as well)
* Yahoo content guidelines
* MSN Search webmaster guidelines
* AltaVista terms of use (AltaVista is a Yahoo-owned company)
* Ask.com terms of service and spam policy
* Ask.com editorial guidelines

2) Don’t Use Spammy Search Engine Tactics

Often, webmasters will use search engine spam techniques without even being aware that they are doing so. Or worse, web designers can – advertently or inadvertently – integrate techniques that could cause a site to be penalized in the site’s rankings in one or more engines, without the site owner’s knowledge of such penalties. The key to avoiding spamming the engines is research.
Keep track of the various search engine guidelines via the links above. Watch for any changes they make to these guidelines and tweak your site accordingly. Trawl the various webmaster and search engine forums regularly to ensure your site doesn’t use any of the latest optimization methods that appear to be penalized. If you suspect your site has been penalized, remove the offending content, contact the engine concerned and ask to be reinstated.

Google actually encourage you to file a re-inclusion request via their Help Center and this post by Google staffer Matt Cutts outlines what should be included.

Alternatively, here is a sample email template you can use instead:

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Sample Re-inclusion Request Email

Dear [search engine name],

I am the owner of [your site URL].

I did not realize that participation in [spammy method] and
[spammy SEO name] programs could cause problems for my website. I was
assured that these techniques were search-engine-friendly by [your source for using spammy method].

I now understand that the practices used are not acceptable. I apologize for having allowed them to be placed on my website. I’ve removed the questionable pages and links from the site. I promise not to repeat such mistakes.

I am asking you to please consider reinstating my website,
[your site URL] into the [search engine name] Index.

Sincerely,

[Your Name]
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To assist them to provide a high quality service, search engines encourage people to report search results they are dissatisfied with. If you spot some content spam or techniques that are clearly in breach of the search engine’s public guidelines, you can report it using these links:

* Google spam report or via search-quality@google.com
* AllTheWeb relevancy problem report (AllTheWeb is a Yahoo-owned company)
* AltaVista search results manipulation report (or via Yahoo’s spam report)
* Yahoo spam report
* Ask.com spam report or via information@ask.com

3) Build Sites for Visitors Rather than Search Engines

The methodologies may have changed over the years, but the same principles have always applied to “good” or “white hat” SEO. Build sites for humans, not search engines. Make the site as user friendly as possible, avoid the bells and whistles and include high quality, relevant content.

Wherever possible, include text-based content and navigation menus with simple, descriptive, well-written copy designed to convert your visitors into customers. Include keywords and phrases your audience would logically type in to search engines to find sites like yours. Only link to sites that are relevant to your target audience and spend some time on usability, making sure all your forms and shopping carts work.

Remember that what pleases a visitor is almost always what pleases a search engine too.

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About the Author:

Article by Kalena Jordan, one of the first search engine optimization experts in Australia, who is well known and respected in the industry, particularly in the U.S. As well as running a daily Search Engine Advice Column, Kalena manages Search Engine College – an online training institution offering instructor-led short courses and downloadable self-study courses in Search Engine Optimization and other Search Engine Marketing subjects.

By: Murry DanielsSearch Engine Optimization companies are making a fortune by doing the menial work that is overlooked by many designers. It is ridiculously easy to do most of the work done by most SEO companies, all you have to do is create good habits.There are 9 main points you should focus on: Keywords URL Text Description, Meta tags Title tags Image Names ALT tags Heading tags Content HyperlinksThe focus of these 8 steps is to load your pages with as many “keywords” as possible.KeywordsKeywords are the most important aspect of good SEO, this is where you tell the Search Engines what your site is about. criminal law lawyers . Search Engines use an algorithm to determine the “Keyword Density” of your site, this formula is:Total Words Keywords= Keyword DensityUse this formula on your competitors web site and see how they score, then aim to beat that score.Choose keywords that best relate to the information, products or services that you are offering. For instance, if I am designing a site about “Web Design”, I want my site to include the words “Web Design” as many times as possible.However, most people don’t just search for just one word, they type phrases, so you should consider the phrases that best suit your sites target market. For example, if I am creating a site about “Web Design” in New Orleans, I would include “New Orleans web design” in my keywords. Another way around this is to not separate my keywords with commas, just use spaces, and the Search Engines will make the phrases for you. The most important thing to remember is that the content of each page is different, so only use keywords pertaining to that page.URL TextWhen you name a new page you have the option to call it anything you could possibly think of, why not se a keyword? After all, the URL address is the first things a search engine comes across when indexing your pages. You have to remember content doesn’t come easy to everyone, so you gotta slip in your keywords when the process gives you an easy one.Description Meta tagsThese tags are dwindling in importance since Search Engines are now looking at content, but every little bit counts.Optimize your meta tags to match your content, products, and services, and the Search Engines that still look at meta data will reward your efforts.Title TagsTitle tags are the tags that tell the Search Engine the title, or formal description of the document or page. bed and breakfast ma . This is the word or phrase that is seen at the top of the browser window. The most important rule about title tags is, don’t put anything in the title tags but keywords. Once again this is an easy time to slip in your keywords, so don’t miss out.Image NamesAs I said before, content doesn’t come easy to everyone, so slip in your keywords whenever possible, this applies to image names. If you are saving a picture of a guy working on a computer for your web design web site, don’t call it “some_dude.jpg”, call it “web_site_design.jpg”. The Search engine will look at the code for the site and see the image pertains to the content of the site and this will be another relevant element on that particular page. You have to take the easy ones when you are given a chance.ALT tagsAlt tags are keywords that you can attach to images, giving more weight to the image since Search Engines can’t analyze the content of the image itself. Here is a chance to slip in more keywords without writing great content, use it.Heading tagsHeading tags are associated with the bold font that leads into a section of text. iphone development . Like this:Web DesignWeb Design Inc. offers custom web site designs…Your heading tags should only be keywords, and should be presented in the order that your Meta tags follow.H1= first meta tag, H2= second meta tag…Try to utilize all 6 heading tags on each page to ensure maximum page optimization.ContentAs every expert will tell you, “Content is King.” Each web page should have at least 350 words on it, and the more the better, but keep in mind the formula for keyword density. You don’t want to fill a page with 1500 words of jibba-jabba and only 5 keywords in it. Some people get hung-up on how browsers display text, and use images with text in them because they want a cool font, but browsers can’t read the text embedded in images, so this content ads no weight to the page in a Search Engines eyes.Linkbaiting is the new trend among high ranking sites. Linkbaiting means writing quality content, or articles that other web sites can display on their pages as long as they give credit, and a link to your site.You don’t have to be a vi or emac expert to write good web content, just be thoughtful of how you word things and incorporate your keywords.HyperlinksHyperlinks are text links to other pages on your site. The rules of SEO and hyperlinks are easy: Use hyperlinks so the Search Engine will have a text link to follow to the next page Don’t use one word links, use long link phrases, preferably keyword phrases Use bullets, or some sort of small image that you can attach an ALT tag to, this will ad more importance to the link, and throw in a couple of free keywords for you.Keep these 9 aspects in mid when designing a site, and you are sure to have a leg up on the competition.