| LED Digest 1834: Cover your Eyes, Lest the Fruit Bites |
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================================================== 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 adam,led-digest.com http://www.led-digest.com ................................................ July 7, 2004 Issue #1834 ................................................ .....IN THIS DIGEST..... ==== CONTINUING ================= --== Site Redesign Blues ==-- ~ Lorelle Smith "Meta tags aren't that important anymore..." ~ Leon Simmons "There is absolutely no evidence whatsoever that Frontpage...is disliked by search engines." ~ Steve Pronger "But all is not lost. The site was built with FrontPage so you can fix it yourself." --== Using Affiliate Services ==-- ~ David Neese "...I can see the federal government eventually levying a federal sales tax..." ~ Mary Lee "...how much does an affiliate have to earn before sending them a 1099?" --== The End of Email as You Know It? ==-- ~ Kathryn Martyn "Cover your eyes, lest the fruit bites you." ==== BILLBOARD =================== --== Using Disclaimers in Ezines? ==-- ~ Martha Retallick ===== CONTINUING ================================= From: Lorelle Smith Subject: Redesign blues > I recently hired a company to re-design my site... the > new designers plugged in a bunch of words at the bottom > of the page and made them the same color as the > background... Now I am in a bind... - Chuck Hiatt, LED 1831 Chuck Hiatt has a valid concern. Good, professional SEO companies do NOT put hidden keywords at the bottom of their clients' pages. And with such a descriptive CSS class -- "smalltextwhite" -- that's so blatant you're sure to trip Google's radar (although a background is used, even Google can "see right through" that tactic!). I would remove that section immediately. The only other problems I saw in your home page code were in the head section: 1) missing closing meta tags ">" 2) meta description is repeated twice 3) the contents of the meta tags are not in quotes 4) same title & meta tags on every page. Meta tags aren't that important anymore, but if you're going to have them, might as well use the correct syntax! :-) Write different tags (and a different title tag) for each page. Also, don't try to optimize for so many terms -- spread them out so there are just a few per page. I'm just so relieved not to find hidden links to 20 other sites (the trademark of a really evil SEO firm I won't mention). Your problems are relatively minor and quick to fix in FrontPage (since that's what you use). I've sent instructions via the email listed on your website. Good luck! Lorelle Smith Search Engine Marketing & Keyword Consultant http://www.keywordsmith.com ------- new post - same topic ------- From: Leon Simmons Subject: Redesign blues > The search engines do not like Front Page > designed sites either... - Helen Estlin, LED 1833 There is absolutely no evidence whatsoever that Frontpage (or any other professional web authoring package) is disliked by search engines. Providing the composition of the website follows the general guidelines as laid down by Google and Yahoo, the software used to construct a website is not an issue. Leon Simmons www.lookit-up.com info, lookit-up.com ------- new post - same topic ------- From: Steve Pronger Subject: Redesign blues Chuck, You were stiffed big time I'm afraid. $5,000 to optimise your site. Yeah right. What will they do - add more hidden text to the bottom of the page? If, as you say, you had "great traffic and sales conversion" why redesign the site? Just goes to show that a "pretty" site isn't necessarily one that will deliver good business results. Your site needs to be un-designed. From an SEO viewpoint, it is totally wrong. But all is not lost. The site was built with FrontPage so you can fix it yourself. Here's what to do... * Do a bit of research on your keywords to make sure you are targeting the right ones. Use tools such as Wordtracker, AdWord Analyzer or Keyword Analyzer. * Get rid of the graphics from the middle of the page and replace it with visible text. Tell your visitors about the benefits of doing business with you. Words do that much better than pictures. Sprinkle your targeted keywords throughout your text. * Get rid of the hidden text. This achieves nothing other than risking you getting banned from Google. It also screams "designed by amateurs". * Start a link exchange program. Find good quality, related sites to exchange links with. Make sure your link partners use your targeted keywords in the anchor text that links to you. Ken Evoy's Value Exchange will help you find link partners. It's free: http://value-exchange.sitesell.com * Submit your site to Yahoo Directory (worth the cost), the ODP (wait forever), Microsoft's Business Directory (also worth the cost) and as my many free directories as you can find. Try to get your keywords in the title for your listing. Your traffic will return. I promise. Steve Pronger http://www.stevepronger.com ------- new post - new topic ------- From: David Neese Subject: Affiliates online taxation While I don't see the states getting in the online taxation game, very easily I can see the federal government eventually levying a federal sales tax which would then catch all businesses whether online or offline which may be only a % or 2. The federal govt could use that to offset some other type of taxation whether income tax related or perhaps towards social security. Thanks David Neese Eagle Computer www.saveateagle.com ------- new post - same topic -------- From: MaryLee Subject: Oversea Affiliates While we are on the subject of affiliates and income tax, I have 2 questions for you web experts out there. I am based in the US & I have many affiliates located overseas in the UK mostly. I guess I should state that I sell a downloadable product and not a physical product as this may affect the answer. My first question is how much does an affiliate have to earn before sending them a 1099? Do we do this for any amount? I have some that may only earn a few dollars. My next question is how do I handle my overseas affiliates? Some of them are big earners. Do I send them a 1099? Their systems of taxation is very different from ours. They don't have social security numbers. I am at a loss on how to handle this so I knew I had to turn to the experts:-) Mary Lee Dinner and a Murder Mystery Games http://www.dinnerandamurder.com ------- new post - new topic ------- From: Kathryn Martyn Subject: End of Email > I developed a toolbar where subscribers could read > any and all of their favorite email publication using a > single toolbar. I even provided a few extras... - Joe Halbrook, LED 1831 > ... this toolbar idea is a non-starter in many people's book. > The screen real estate I own is much too valuable to allow > someone to steal a whole row just to get a single service. > Especially for something likely to be a one-time venture... - Dave Starr, LED 1832 I have to respectfully disagree with you, Dave. You say your screen real estate is too valuable but mine isn't. I use a 19" monitor, and I've got plenty of space for toolbars. Sure some people won't / can't use it, but many can. When I first saw the post about the tool bar I went to take a look, installed it and it instantly struck me as a great additional way to provide access to my online weight loss course. In my work with weight loss clients, having something as a reminder of the goal or motivation in front of them is incredibly important. In fact, it's not easy to come up with ways to provide this, and yet here is something so simple, yet so effective. The toolbar is easily removed as well. I think the toolbar is something that could be very useful for me. Lest we forget, isn't the Google toolbar a large part of why they've become so successful? Unlike the Yahoo toolbar that installs itself without asking, and is a nuisance to remove, the Google toolbar is very well behaved. What self respecting web developer doesn't use it to check page rank of every page they see? Sadly though, the toolbar idea won't solve the non-delivery issue for the majority of those who aren't receiving the emails due to corporate filters, because they usually also cannot install anything on their work computer, thanks to strict IT policies. Thank the higher powers for that! So that kills the theory of a toolbar as a remedy for the e-mail issue. Back to square one. I've virtually ended my hassle with the issue by using a program called E-mail Genie (I don't think it's available any longer). It tags all the questionnable words in your proposed message, which you can then edit, until you receive a passing grade. Once the e-mail passes the filters in E-mail Genie, chances are, it will pass any corporate filter out there, and it's very strict so since I started using it I no longer receive the friendly, "Your message didn't pass our spam filters and we think you're scum" messages that come from corporate watchdog services. Mind you, my industry, weight loss, is highly flitered, as is every other word known to mankind. It's my favorite rant how I can't mention g r a p e s because that innocent fruit contains a unfavorable word within it's confines that the filters simply will not allow! Cover your eyes, lest the fruit bites you. Kathryn Martyn, M.NLP Ending Emotional Eating, One Bite at a Time http://www.onemorebite-weightloss.com ==== BILLBOARD ==================================== From: Martha Retallick Subject: Using disclaimers in e-zines I include links to subscriber websites in my postcard marketing e-zine. However, I think I need to modify that policy. An edited version of a subscriber e-mail motivates me to do this. She was commenting on the advice that one subscriber gave to another. Here's the e-mail: ----------------------- Have you checked out [URL that followed the advice-giving subscriber's post in my e-zine]? It is a very questionable MLM touting many false claims about it product, [product name omitted]. I went to http://www.quackwatch.org and read about some of their false claims about health benefits. [NOTE: I didn't include the full QuackWatch URL, as it mentioned the MLM product by name.] I know that they can still give good advice about postcard marketing, but perhaps you should consider writing a disclaimer, or be careful about the links you choose. Otherwise it looks as if you are endorsing their business, which I am guessing is not true? ----------------------- Okay, that's the e-mail. And I think this subscriber makes some good points. What do LED-ers do to handle the above situation? Martha Retallick "The Passionate Postcarder" http://www.postcardmarketingsecrets.com ------------------------------------------------------- The LED Digest is sponsored by pair Networks: pair.com for Hosting | pairNIC.com for Domains Copyright 1995-2004 Adam Audette. All Rights Reserved. ----------------------------------------------------------------- "You can tell whether a man is clever by his answers. You can tell whether a man is wise by his questions." - Naguib |
