| LED Digest 2274: Marketing, Access and Relevance |
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How access usability and relevance contribute to SEO/M. A discussion on your favorite SEO tools and resources, including some great links. Plus, Blogger and integrated blogs - how one LEDer had their account closed... ================================================== 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 25, 2006 Issue no. 2274 .............................................. .....IN THIS DIGEST..... ==== CONTINUING ================= --== Favorite SEO Tools ==-- ~ Lori Smart "One of the best resources is your own site's statistics." ~ Shaun Johnston "...there seems no shortcut to what's best..." ~ James Miller "...there is only one thing that gets your web site to the top of the lists...good solid content..." --== Blog Experiments ==-- ~ Gary Mawdsley "...our blog disappeared from our dashboard, when we logged into Blogger to update it." --== Usability and Search ==-- ~ Shari Thurow "It's not only about access, it is also about relevancy." --== Tracking Clicks ==-- ~ Al Toman "I setup a down-n-dirty simple 'how to' web page..." ======== CONTINUING =============================== From: Lori Smart Subject: SEO tools > I'm currently newly hired to a firm as an intern (don't laugh) > and trying to learn as much as I can quickly... I'm wondering > what tools you SEO / SEM's are using. Desktop, Web-based > apps that can quickly find the crucial data for client sites... - Natalie Sheer, LED Digest 2273 - http://www.led-digest.com/content/view/1273/55/ Hi Natalie, You and your questions are welcome here at LED! Since you seem highly intelligent, I know you'll be capable of weeding out the conflicting information you'll find out there! Here are a few great places to start: SEOmoz Beginners Guide to Search Engine Optimization: http://www.seomoz.org/beginners.php They also have a lot of helpful info at: http://www.seomoz.org/articles.php And, to help you weed out the so-called "experts" in the field, when it comes to who knows what about SEO/SEM, they even provide a list of their competitors that they feel make the grade -- and several on their list actually post very helpful info right here in LED. http://www.seomoz.org/articles/recommended.php Another great place to get tons of info & resources is Danny Sullivan's Search Engine Watch. http://searchenginewatch.com/ Wordtracker can be a great resource, depending on your employer's needs. Depending on the type of site you have, you may find it doesn't help that well, so start of with the freebie or a week before paying for a full year. One of the best resources is your own site's statistics. Hopefully, your host can provide you with a detailed stats package, showing everything, including how people found your site, and what keywords they used to get there. You can definitely use that info to your advantage. I hope this helps! Lori Smart InternetDesign.com -------- new post - same topic --------- From: Shaun Johnston Subject: SEO tools Two suggestions. First, I was impressed by the thinking behind http://marketingtools.blinklist.com/, where you can add and then vote for the SEO tools of your choice, ending up with a cream-of-the-crop top tier set of tools. I have questions about the outfit, they are pushing something called Jay Abraham's technique of Risk Reversal in a questionable marketing format, but otherwise distribute good advice. If their blinklist isn't the way to go, should this be done by someone else, maybe SEMPO? Second, about keyword tools, it depends what one needs. I use Keyworddiscovery because it can show me usage of keywords by month, which is helpful for marketing tourism online. Google now does something similar, but it's not quantitative. In this case, there seems no shortcut to what's best, it seems to depend on which features you need that someone else offers. Does that doom a best-in-show list of SEO tools? Shaun Johnston -------- new post - same topic --------- From: James Miller Subject: SEO tools There is no substitute for solid hard work. I always use Google Site Maps to check why your site is being found in Google. Have a look every day and see the changes. If the company is in the news see if this changes the pattern. Think, analyse and write it all down. Also find a search in Google that finds the company on the second or so page. Make sure it's not company specific, by using the company name or a product. Then track how the position of this search goes up and down. In my opinion, there is only one thing that gets your web site to the top of the lists. And that is good solid content, which is constantly being added to. Does the company have a news page which it updates daily? Or does it let the site grow old and mouldy like a sandwich in the fridge? As you will see elsewhere in this letter, I've been using blogs integrated into the site as news pages. They are also great ways of generating traffic. Think of all those words, that Google can index. So does your CEO, Support Department or whoever run a blog. Remember though that paying for position in Google, is much the same as feeding a drug habit. When you withdraw, the site's life goes quickly downhill. James Miller Daisy Analysis: www.daisy.co.uk --------- new post - new topic --------- From: Gary Mawdsley Subject: Blog experiments > ... I experimented with my Blogger template and > was able to change it, so that the blog appears to > be a completely integrated part of the web site. - James Miller, LED Digest 2273 A six year long lurker here, finally making their first contribution to an invaluable resource ;-) ! James, I agree whole heartedly with your post, however a small warning. We tried a similar approach at sonypspinfo.com, integrating a Blogger blog to keep our visitors up to date on site news. However after a short time, our blog disappeared from our dashboard, when we logged into Blogger to update it. As the blog files were being published to our site, we luckily did not lose all our past pasts, which we would have, had it been hosted entirely by Blogger. We requested an explanation from Blogger many times, but never received a reply. We came to the conclusion that as our posts only ever linked to our internal pages, our blog must have been marked as Spam and thus removed without any fore-warning or explanation. We now use WordPress for all our blogs, to keep total control over them. Gary Mawdsley http://www.sonypspinfo.com -------- new post - new topic --------- From: Shari Thurow Subject: SEO and Usability Hi all- This is in response to a number of posts in LED #2270 [ http://www.led-digest.com/content/view/1257/55/ ] regarding search engine optimization (SEO) and usability. I am aware that I rubbed people the wrong way. Sometimes, I do that on purpose. Not always one of my greatest qualities, I understand, but I almost always do it to make a point. I honestly do not believe the vast majority of people truly comprehend what SEO truly is. I don't care that my definition does not "jibe" with the current buzz speak. Example? Somehow, search engine marketing (SEM) has come to mean search engine advertising, when in fact search engine marketing encompasses a wide variety of search skills: pay-per-click (PPC) advertising, optimization, paid inclusion, etc. I know that my definition of SEM is far more accurate, and I am not the only person who thinks this way. Of course, I never coined the term SEM nor came up with the original definition. Here are a few of things that I would like to mention from LED #2270. Before that, my apologies to Brett Atkin for misspelling his name. Honest mistake (typo). His comment: > ... SE spider "usability" is involved in SEO, but that is > not what most people think of when they think of usability. Honestly? If people do not think of information retrieval usability when they think of usability? Well, that is their mistake, their huge oversight. I choose to broaden my knowledge about usability through training courses, seminars, workshops, online and offline readings, and (of course) a formal education. Apply what I learn to the sites I develop. Learn from experience. I'm glad I maintain my perspective rather than what "people" think. If I went along with what "people" think, I would really suck at my job. > Isn't the point of getting one's information into those > information retrieval systems to create publicity, sales, > pass on knowledge, just be found, etc...? Too many people think "Google" when you say the phrase "search engine" to them, which is why I prefer to use information retrieval system. Just a personal preference, not meant to be condescending. Being a developer, I work with site search engines all of the time. Sometimes, I work with the commercial Web search engines as site search engines, too. That's when I really, truly see usability come into play. It's not about "being at the top" only. Relevancy is so incredibly important. Writing, designing, programming, scripting, archiving, etc. is so crucial in making your site search engine results more accurate. Having worked on huge portal sites (greater than 100 thousand pages) where search results absolutely, positively need to be accurate, I see the connection between usability and search -- how they really are not separate concepts. People just got it into their heads that SEO means getting at the top of Google. People got it into their heads that "search" only encompasses querying behavior. It doesn't. Maybe if people worked on site search engines, they might see the big picture. I noticed long ago that if one makes their site search results more accurate through the interface and content, the commercial Web search engine results tend to follow suit. It's not only about access, it is also about relevancy. When marketing is added too much into SEO, I think perceived relevancy becomes more of a focus than actual relevancy. But I digress. Another topic for another time. > What does archiving have to do with SEO? I am just going to assume (and please correct me if I am wrong) that this is a completely ignorant question. Archiving is incredibly important to the optimization process. Anyone who has redesigned a site with new and outdated URLs understands that. The first part of the search engine process is spidering, which means access access access (emphasis mine). I understand that the first part of the SEO process is keyword research. And a major part of the Web site usability process is keyword research (for labeling). However, it is not the first part of the spidering process. If humans and search engine spiders are not delivered to the most appropriate Web address, the site / page loses credibility. People remember getting a 404 Error page. People remember not being delivered to a page that does not give them the most accurate information. A page can lose outstanding link development. Search engine spiders remember which sites delivered outdated / redundant / orphaned / etc. Links and content, and many of these sites do not get as many pages in the indices as they can. In addition, having testified in court cases as an expert witness, I have personally seen the burden of proof not met because Web site owners did not archive well. Not having an archiving plan is a big mistake, another huge oversight. So you see? SEO is not only about marketing. It never has been. SEO has been in existence long before Google and Yahoo emerged. I do not want to have such a narrow view of SEO, to think of it as marketing only. No regrets about thinking less of people's narrow view. Some people need to be educated or re-educated about SEO. SEO ignorance (genuinely not knowing) is one thing. Everyone, including myself, is ignorant about many things. Choosing to remain ignorant, which I characterize as stupidity, is another. Off my soapbox. Sincerely, Shari Thurow, Webmaster/Marketing Director Grantastic Designs, Inc. http://www.grantasticdesigns.com/tips.html -------- new post - new topic --------- From: Al Toman Subject: Tracking > I have a non-commercial web site that someone > wants to [advertise] on... How can I track how many > people click on his banner / link to his web site? - Rob Forker, LED Digest 2271 - http://www.led-digest.com/content/view/1261/55/ In response to Rob Forker's request, I setup a down-n-dirty simple "how to" web page at http://studio9.ws/scripts/counter.php . Questions? Contact me. Kind Regards, Al Toman studio9 web design ------------------------------------------------------- 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. ----------------------------------------------------------------- "Preach the gospel everywhere you go, and, if necessary, use words." - Saint Francis of Assisi |
