| LED Digest 2259: Using Misspellings to Advantage |
|
|
|
How misspelling your keyword phrases, and using other modifiers, can help a site rank well and stay relevant. Also, when high rankings don't convert, you know it's time to examine the site. Plus tons more in this issue. ================================================== The LED Digest Moderated Discussion List "Effective Online Advertising, Since 1997" Data > Information > Knowledge > Wisdom pair Networks: The LED's Web Host Hosting and Domain Registration from a Trusted Leader pair.com for Hosting | pairNIC.com for Domains ================================================== List Moderator: Published by: Adam Audette LED Digest adam, led-digest.com http://www.led-digest.com .............................................. October 4, 2006 Issue no. 2259 .............................................. .....IN THIS DIGEST..... ==== CONTINUING ================= --== Rankings Up, Sales Down ==-- ~ Michael Linehan "So your PR and Alexa rank are irrelevant." ~ James Miller "You need a redesign immediately." --== Form Spam ==-- ~ Chris Nielsen "...we have had very good response to reporting spam to many of the free hosting sites..." --== Meta Tags (and More) ==-- ~ Brad Waller "Our site is a poster child for the long tail..." ~ Shari Thurow "There is a BIG difference between spidering and indexing, and indexing and relevancy." ~ Cyril Hallard "Just a comment here, based on recent posts..." --== Click Fraud ==-- ~ Greg Marquess "Everyone who has been reading these posts must go out and...get the magazine." --== Linking ==-- ~ Dirk Johnson "I am not an apologist for reciprocal linking." --== Small Biz Sites ==-- ~ Rick Gortatowsky "[Search engines] are not that important if one uses creativity and a good business plan." ======== CONTINUING =============================== From: Michael Linehan Subject: Rankings Up, Sales Down > Can anyone tell me why my ranking continues > to rise... but sales seem to continue to go down? > I had a severe drop in sales that happened overnight > about three years ago... - Angelo Simone, LED 2258 - http://www.led-digest.com/content/view/1092/55/ Well Angelo, you just said it. You did something three years ago that caused a severe drop in sales. In other words, what's to explain? The first thing is maybe to reverse that. But even if that is fixed, I'd say there's another fundamental problem. What you describe and what I see is that the site and your tactics are all over the place. Do your customers really want to buy slot machines too? Terri's jewelry? Printer cartridges? Does your site speak to your clients - Do they read purple, green and red type on black? Many people won't. Are the people you want to reach looking at and responding to PPC ads? (Apparently not.) So your PR and Alexa rank are irrelevant. Your position in Google doesn't ultimately matter. Even your traffic doesn't really matter, as such. All these tactics and figures are like a bunch of flashlights flicking on and off while being pointed randomly in every direction. You'll hit a few sales here and there, but not much. This all needs to be turned into a coherent and integrated plan, like turning all that flashlight energy into a laser. Reworking the home page is just another tactic that means nothing if you're not reaching and bringing in the right people. So figure out who are you selling to and want to sell to. Understand what they want. And figure out how you can you reach them repeatedly, powerfully and inexpensively. When you can answer those three points, you're half way home (or more!). If you can REALLY answer these points, fully and clearly, the implementation is easy. Everything you do will be markedly, perhaps enormously, more effective. Michael Linehan Marketing Alchemy www.marketing-alchemy.com -------- new post - same topic -------- From: James Miller Subject: Sales decreasing This may be a hard response, but good design increases sales and bad design decreases them. 1. Your main problem is that your site is white on black. It may be fashionable but it's a bad idea. Punters do not like this, as they can't print it to show others what they are looking to buy. 2. The entry point to the site is also not on the first browser full. 3. You also scroll down and down and the page goes on with lots of logos and is very confusing. 4. Why put all the credit card logos on the front page. Everyone knows that a good on-line site allows all those. You need a redesign immediately. James Miller Daisy Analysis www.daisy.co.uk -------- new post - new topic -------- From: Chris Nielsen Subject: Form spam > ... does anyone know of a way to stop persistent spammers > who use the response form on my website...? - Dan Rosenfield, LED 2257 - http://www.led-digest.com/content/view/1081/55/ The CAPCHA solution is probably the best, but if you don't have any need for non-USA traffic, we can provide a list of IP addresses that can be added to your Linux server's .htaccess file that will block many ranges of IPs that are the source of a lot of the spam. The spammers tend to use open proxy servers which makes them hard to reach. If anyone would like this list please contact me via email using webmaster1 at our domain http://www.deny-from.com/. We are planning to publish this list on the site at some point, but your email made me realize that others may be hurting as we have been over this issue. The list is in the format of "deny from 10.11.12.13" and does block a few US IP ranges that have servers, but we didn't block any ISPs like Comcast although we are starting to see form spam from there now also. It makes me think spammers are getting home users to install something that can then be used to send the spam, but I can't confirm this. For those that have and can administer Windows web servers, my partner installed this program, http://www.aspemporium.com/aspapps.asp?eid=54 which allows you to block single IPs or entire ranges. We have 11 classified ad sites that were getting hammered by ad spammers, and many advertisers were getting scam emails and a few were taken in and lost money. Over the past year or so we have blocked sources and now get very little, which we also block. We don't like blocking most of Nigeria, Korea, India, Pakistan, Romania, etc. but we refuse to put up with this kind of stuff. If you get the app and want our list, please let me know and I'll see if I can get the database or at least a list for you. By the way, we have had very good response to reporting spam to many of the free hosting sites that you see listed. And reports of spamvertised blogs at blogger.com sent to support at blogger.com seem to get the spam blogs removed. For spammer sites that are directly owned by the spammers, we have taken great satisfaction in downloading their entire sites many times. Since many of these spam sites are very large, the bandwidth usage can be considerable and may push them over their allocation, either resulting in the site being taken off-line or costing them extra hosting charges. I downloaded one a few times and hit the 1GB mark. I use a spare computer with extra drive space and load in spam site URLs into HTTrack Website Copier (http://www.httrack.com). Thanks, Chris Nielsen http://www.mesothelioma-search-engine.com -------- new post - new topic -------- From: Brad Waller Subject: Meta tags Derek Andrews [issue 2258 http://www.led-digest.com/content/view/1092/55/ ] wanted more specifics on the mis-spelled word. While my example does not fit exactly the same case, I can get him data if he wants on a similar case. We realized back in 1994 that people can't spell "Volkswagen" correctly and often use "Volkswagon" instead. This example does not fit the case of "meta tag only" that was being discussed, but I do think that this is relevant data. One of the pages we set up as the equivalent of a site map back then is a search results page for our categories. One of which is VW cars. Search for "volkswagon for sale" (no quotes) and our page (http://epage.com/classifieds/Volkswagon_for_sale.html) ends up on top. We do use the word in more than the meta tag Our site is a poster child for the long tail, as we last month we had over 18,000 different search phrases bringing in over 55,000 unique visitors. I could only review the top 5,000 phrases. Of those, ten phrases included "volkswagon" and accounted for 60 visitors. The correct "volkswagen" of course did better (mostly I think because the search engines now show you the correct spelling) with 25 terms and 149 visitors. What I can't determine because this is too detailed for the analytics program (I can only look at the top 5,000 of 80,000 unique pages) is where all those people went. I am sure many went directly to a classified ad that had the mis-spelling, as I just discovered that the above page is not enabled for analytics. DOH! So, if the term is important, find a way to use it on your site. It does not have to be the home page. You can have a page about the mis-spelling explaining that the term is really spelled differently and this site can help you, etc. And if that page has the term in the title, meta tags, and body, then you have it covered for the search engines and the page is a useful page for real people. Brad Waller Manage and Sell your own site advertising http://adjungle.com waller, adjungle.com -------- new post - same topic -------- From: Shari Thurow Subject: Meta-tag keywords Hi all- This is in response to the thread about meta-tag keywords. It's been an interesting discussion thread. I have to say this because I honestly do not believe that people, in general, understand some important technical terms when it comes to search engine optimization. There is a BIG difference between spidering and indexing, and indexing and relevancy. The spidering / crawling process is all about access. Search engines will not put any Web document in their database (index) unless they can retrieve it from a URL (Web address) first. The index is a subset of the spidered information. And just because a search engine indexes text on a page does not mean that the text is used to determine relevancy (ie positioning). That being said, most of the commercial Web search engines do not use content in the meta-tag keywords attribute to determine relevancy. I understand that people are going to put misspellings in that tag, as I would recommend anyway. However, a misspelled company name is not a very common search. About the only place one might see it is in the keywords attribute. To give the meta-tag keywords attribute such "weight" for that reason? I would say there are far more important tags to focus on, not only from an SEO perspective but a usability perspective as well. In my experience, the only exception I make to this rule is when I build a site search engine that uses meta-tag keywords and descriptions to determine relevancy. Then, purely for usability purposes (I want my site search results to be accurate), I will focus a bit more on the keywords attribute. Data mining my site search engine data will help me determine the best words and misspellings to put in the keywords attribute. But that's a whole different ballgame. I don't mean to sound rude or condescending when I say the following. I became a better SEO because I chose to learn as much as I can about the entire information retrieval process. I know it's really really hard not to use anecdotal evidence or personal experience as proof. Hey, I've done it myself many times. I think it's great when LEDers share their experiences. But please open your eyes and learn more about some of the technical aspects of SEO. Believe me, once you understand how information retrieval systems really work, you stop obsessing over the little things. Sincerely, Shari Thurow Grantastic Designs, Inc. -------- new post - same topic -------- From: Cyrille Hallard Subject: Meta tags Hello, Just a comment here, based on recent posts, we all seem to agree that Tittle and Description tags are important. However, if I'm correct, if this one is listed in DMOZ, the description appearing in Google or MSN is the over written. Yahoo keeps your description. Original site: - Title: IT careers and IT jobs in Canada - Description: IT-Careers.ca, through a pertinent and accurate list of canadian information technology companies, assists you to directly access a company through the career opportunity page or the main entry page. -------------------- DMOZ: - Title: Information Technology Careers Description: Provides a list of canadian information technology companies, providing links to directly access career opportunity listings. -------------------- Google: - Title: IT careers and IT jobs in Canada - Description: Provides a list of canadian information technology companies, providing links to directly access career opportunity listings. -------------------- Yahoo: - Title: IT careers and IT jobs in Canada - Description: IT-Careers.ca, through a pertinent and accurate list of canadian information ... Toronto Ottawa Montreal Vancouver Calgary Edmonton St John's Halifax Winnipeg ... -------------------- MSN: - Title: IT careers and IT jobs in Canada - Description: Provides a list of canadian information technology companies, providing links to directly access career opportunity listings. Best regards Cyril Hallard http://www.it-careers.ca -------- new post - new topic -------- From: Greg Marquess Subject: Click Fraud - Fortune and Business Week > ... main-stream business publishers and organizations > are finally waking up to the apparent breadth and viciousness > of [click fraud]. See the results of a major Business Week > investigation... - David Yancey, LED 2253 - http://www.led-digest.com/content/view/1072/55/ The Business Week cover heading (October 2, 2006) is "Click Fraud, The Dark Side of Online Advertising". Everyone who has been reading these posts must go out and drop 5 dollars and get the magazine. Renee [Kennedy, issue 2255 http://www.led-digest.com/content/view/1075/55/ ] posted some good points on the article but you have to see the article to understand the depth and sheer complexity of this problem. It cannot be explained by me in this post. You have to read the article yourself to understand the dynamics of how the scam (orchestrated by the Search Engines) actually works. It is the cover story and a very good one at that. Also see Fortune Magazine (same week, on display until 10/9). The cover reads "Chaos @ Google". The story gives an in depth look at the company and does speak at decent length about their "dependence" on ad dollars. Reading the story makes you wonder how Google ever got where it is, much less having a plan for sustaining itself. On a tour of their headquarters the writer describes what he sees as a $125b company with nobody really sure of who is in control. The Business Week article is better as far as the click fraud issue is concerned. However, the Fortune article paints a picture of Google, and the likelihood they may be heading south much quicker than anyone thinks. There are a litany of examples (the 900mil deal with MySpace which they got burned on, lack of a solid business or finance model; their Google Finance Unit... which does not generate any revenue, etc.) Both are good reading but do not miss out on the Biz Week article. It will completely change the way you think about click fraud and the way you viewed it in the past. Greg Marquess -------- new post - new topic -------- From: Dirk Johnson Subject: Linking > Many other SEO's are reciprocal link apologists > and claim reciprocal links still work regardless > of what they hear from Matt Cutts. - Mike Banks Valentine, LED 2257 - http://www.led-digest.com/content/view/1081/55/ Mike, I am not an apologist for reciprocal linking. I am an avid advocate, when it is done properly. What we do here is in full compliance with everything that Matt Cutts has said with respect to reciprocation. We reciprocate with sites in the same realm of interest, responsibly. The proof is in the results. One must look beyond what they want to read, and read what is actually being said, and compare that with real search results. So, with 8 years of successful experience, I choose to continue to do what has worked well for our clients, throughout every Google update, while making no apologies or concessions. I have no need to do either. Best regards, Dirk Johnson, Partner - Operations DomainDrivers LLC www.domaindrivers.com -------- new post - new topic -------- From: Rick Gortatowsky Subject: Small biz search > I knew we'd only succeed if we did something unique and > could promote virally... Strategy and creativity makes money, > you don't have to sit around trying to copy what "the big guys > on the web" are doing (or work for them). - Mark Whitman, LED 2255 - http://www.led-digest.com/content/view/1075/55/ Strategy... a business plan is essential for any business on or off the web. Creativity counts as well for business. However, this discussion started out as a discussion on "Search Engines" and the importance. They are NOT that important IF one uses ones creativity and a good business plan. Again, building mechanisms and utilizing those others have built to retain and draw traffic simply does better than any Search Engine ever has. It's ever so obvious to me you have not developed much in the way of eCommerce sites, hard goods. We have done many and the FIRST thing we tell clients is to seek out areas such as Internet forums and sites that relate to the products they wish to sell. Establish a mailing list... don't wait. Never rely on external sites like search engines etc. to draw traffic. The best traffic is drawn by working to obtain it through link exchanges, forums, points of interest that target the end consumer. I find it unique that you were working on an adult site. A individual in our community sells natural sexual stimulants etc. on the Internet. He quite properly targeted working with adult sites and could care less about the Search Engines. He sells the various compounds for $40-$60 for a 30 day supply. I cannot even begin to tell you how much money he has made. His average daily postal bill ranges $2000-$3000 at $5 shipping a pop basically. He owns a beautiful house on the lake he had built, a condo in Florida and one in California, a new vette, a Hummer, 2 boats, jet skis... pretty much anything he wants he can buy. Nothing special about his web at all... What IS special is he was smart enough to realize he needed to target the customer and that CANNOT be effectively done in search engines. I explain it like this... Search Engines are just like a pool of millions and millions of people. The webmaster is attempting by ranking etc. to filter those people and in competition with countless others trying to do the same. The smart SMALL business targets this, certainly... but it is NOT the focus where BEST TIME is spent. Best time is spent attempting to find and CREATE site(s) where the targeted customer spends time and make deals with the sites. Then create BETTER sites than those and latch the clientel. We are a software vendor as well as a development house. Software is VERY competitive on the net to sell and its a natural seller. People use computers to access the web, software makes computers do what they do what they do. While we have moved away from software sales to some extent when we were highly focused on the sales end of things we were ranked 84th in the word in software sales by Dunn & Bradstreet all from a $1000 start up. The small business tries to GURU over seach engines, over and over and over and its one of the biggest reasons they often fail. One can be a needle in a haystack in search engines. Atop that as I noted, it's like having millions and millions of people in a field and yelling, "Anyone out there want to buy culinary goods and materials!!!!!". Some will respond. But, if instead one targets sites that have recipes, cooking this and that... One makes one's own sites that target the BUYERS now one is making mechinisms for continued growth and success. With every sale consumated the user gets a free month or year or whatall to your recipes site, can post their recipes... One can train things anyway one likes for best results. It's simply nuts to spend all ones time trying to get traffic from say google. As I noted, we had gobs and gobs of pages ranked in top 10 searches at Google, MSN and others over the years. The traffic derived was just nothing in comparison to focused targeting of sites where we KNOW the actual customers hang out for our product. Its just common sense. Rick Gortatowsky ------------------------------------------------------- The LED Digest is sponsored by pair Networks: pair.com for Hosting | pairNIC.com for Domains Copyright 1995-2006 Orange Wheel, LLC. All Rights Reserved. ----------------------------------------------------------------- "Integrity has no need of rules." - Albert Camus |
