| LED Digest 1993: Google and Thin Affiliates |
|
|
|
================================================== The LED Digest Moderated Discussion List "Effective Online Advertising, Since 1997" pair Networks: The LED's Web Host Hosting and Domain Reg. from a Trusted Leader pair.com for Hosting | pairNIC.com for Domains ================================================== List Moderator: Published by: Adam Audette LED Digest post, led-digest.com http://www.led-digest.com .............................................. July 12, 2005 Issue #1993 .............................................. .....IN THIS DIGEST..... ====== NEW ====================== --== Google and Thin Affiliates ==-- ~ Linda Buquet "Not sure if any of you have read 'Google's Spam Recognition Guide for Raters'..." ==== CONTINUING ================= --== SEO Pricing ==-- ~ Peter D'Aprix "...there is often a trend to think of web sites with tunnel vision..." ~ Don Baker "...per-page prices should only be a ballpark figure that you adjust for each client..." ==== BILLBOARD =================== --== Inbound Link Numbers ==-- ~ Michael Linehan ======= NEW ====================================== From: Linda Buquet Subject: Google Does Not Like "Thin" Affiliates We all know that content is king and affiliates that succeed and prosper will need to be adding value to avoid duplicate penalties by search engines. Not sure if any of you have read "Google's Spam Recognition Guide for Raters" that is being discussed on some of the SEO forums. The following article from Allan Gardyne in the Associate Programs Newsletter sums it up well and divulges the HUMAN algos that Google has trained it's human mods to look for when deciding good affiliate sites from bad. I blogged about this a few days ago, but it's really important so thought I would also share it here. Affiliates and merchants that have not read this info yet, REALLY need to! http://www.associateprograms.com/search/newsletter263.shtml Allan only quotes parts of the Google Spam Guide. Serious affiliates and merchants will want to study the whole thing carefully. I am all for Google having nice clean SERPs and would like to see all the really spammy sites go, but I don't want to see any affiliates suffer financial set backs needlessly. Even though we pass out lots of free affiliate datafeeds for all of our programs, we do so with the expectation that affiliates will add their own content, value and creativity. Unfortunately sometimes they don't. Linda Buquet Affiliate Management Consultant http://www.5staraffiliateprograms.com ===== CONTINUING ================================= From: Peter D'Aprix Subject: SEO pricing Well this topic has ranged a bit, I am really addressing the per page pricing issue whether it is to repair, improve or create pages. As a web designer (but not progammer) I too wonder how anyone can bill by the page since every page I give birth to has a different function, content and complexity as well as intent. Since designing and implementing a page takes time, some pages more than others, I simply have an hourly rate and bill by the hour plus whatever expenses are involved. What else is logical unless you are offering cookie cutter sites? I just got a site up that looks deceptively simple (www.patinawoodfloors.com). It is not yet finished but the core "brochure ware" part is done. It is mainly photographs (mostly mine, thank you.) but to make all the pages look related even though the function is often different was a process of evolution and very time consuming. Not to mention the time sizing and optimizing all the photographs as well as writing all the content, developing press releases and so on. Creating the site meant I had to spend time becoming intimately involved in the whole functioning of the company in order to know what to say, how to present it, what impact to make, who they are targeting, what the target market will respond to and so on. The sales department had to be brought in to canvas them on what they needed in the way of sales back up on the site and what would work or not work for them. Often a client is looking at the site as they are on the phone with the sale staff. So how can this work possibly be done on a page rate basis? This may not be typical, but it is for me. As a loyal reader of this column virtually since its conception, I do notice that there is often a trend to think of web sites with tunnel vision, a vision restricted to the writers' own personal experience rather than to see the field with wider eyes. Web sites are publishing and a lot more. Each needs to address the needs of the client's business. Needs to be part of their business plan. Needs to be considered by them as an investment that will reap rewards, not an expense that drains their war chest. So each is as different from the next as any one business is different from other enterprises. We all have the same tool chest, but like any builder will tell you, every house is different. So to return to the theme, it would seem to me that each designer also has different hats to wear. Some just write code, some actually apply learned graphic design skills, some have to create some or part of the content while others just apply it. Some have to be marketing consultants, photographers (me for example), PR consultants, image builders, advertising specialists, SEOs, as well as having or having access to people who can do the technical back end. All too often, it is only the technical aspect that receives the focus, often with good reason. But the technical part is just the tools, the motor that drives the conception. A site can function perfectly and achieve nothing. A site can have real messy code but sell a lot. A site can look like hell and still achieve its goals. It all depends on whether it gives the end user what they want in the way they want it. What I am trying to get at is that there is no one set of solutions that will fit all applications. My Patina site above would not work for another client who sells bike lockers. Two different markets with different target base not to mention different products. So we design for that. But by "design" I mean not just the code, not just the graphics, not just the site, but the whole damn program that determines what the code, the look and feel and the site should be in the first place - up market or down market. The client could care less about the code, what web authoring tools are used or whether it is custom coded. Neither does the user. All they care about is does it do what it is supposed to do. If it does, it will add value to their business. If not, then it is indeed just an expense. It is easy to get obsessed with our own problem solving, but from time to time we need to step back and stop obsessing. (My wife should hear me now! Or are those her words!). Thanks again to all of you for the wealth of information you have provided me and the various different viewpoints to the web world you provide. Peter D'Aprix - Visual Communications http://peterdaprix.com ------- new post - same topic ------- From: Donald L. Baker Subject: SEO pricing Our company doesn't charge by the page, but we do have a "ballpark" fee for sites up to 20 pages (without extensive Flash or other complications). Many SMB sites fall into this category. When you do enough sites' optimization, you should be able to calculate how many hours it takes to perform the various optimization tasks for a typical site. With this calculation, you can arrive at a per-page price for a *typical* site. But per-page prices should only be a ballpark figure that you adjust for each client's particular situation and needs. Don Baker NSI Partners www.nsipartners.com ==== BILLBOARD =================================== From: Michael Linehan Subject: Link numbers Why would Google show 67 inbound links, Yahoo 500 and MSN 2200? And what's the easiest thing to do about it? Get the MSN results and submit to Google? Thanks, Michael Linehan www.marketing-alchemy.com ------------------------------------------------------- The LED Digest is sponsored by pair Networks: pair.com for Hosting | pairNIC.com for Domains Copyright 1995-2005 Orange Wheel, LLC. All Rights Reserved. ----------------------------------------------------------------- "The best minds are not in government. If any were, business would steal them away." - Ronald Reagan |
