| LED Digest 1516: Worldwide Job Markets |
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================================================== The LED Digest Moderated Discussion List "Effective Online Advertising, Since 1997" ================================================== List Moderator: Published by: Adam Audette LED Digest ................................................. February 12, 2003 Issue #1516 ................................................. .....IN THIS DIGEST..... ===== NEW ====================== --== Sub-domains & Reciprocal Links ==-- ~ Jim Gatton "...some search engines counted links from subdomains...as being valid (reciprocal?) links." ==== CONTINUING ================= --== Competing with SEO Spammers ==-- ~ Joann Chokrach "I don't think it is realistic to expect to be in the top of the search engines after only 2 months." --== Outsourcing Web Development ==-- ~ Vicki Lambert "You need to be careful about the written word as well as the spoken..." ~ Andrey Chashkov "...instead of struggling against this situation it's wise to co-operate." --== Techniques for Publishing Contact Info ==-- ~ Jennifer Polen "...if your domain has the option of a catch-all address [ensure] you disable it..." ~ Reg Charie "Hiding an email address...can be done by using ASCII code in the source." ==== BILLBOARD =================== --== Domain Registration Encore ==-- ~ Jim Gill ~ Joel Lesser ~ Ed Seward ======= NEW ===================================== From: Jim Gatton Subject: Sub-domains and Reciprocal Links I checked reciprocal links today for a domain (not my own) and noticed that the domain suchandsuch.com (can't believe no one's actually registered that one yet!) is giving out free websites to their distributors and that some search engines counted links from the subdomains joes.suchandsuch.com and ruths.suchandsuch.com to another domain as being valid (reciprocal?) links. Unfortunately, the suchandsuch.com domain doesn't actually have an index page running so I couldn't check out whether a link from the subdomain to the main domain would actually be counted by the search engines. Does this mean that Google and / or some other search engines recognize each subdomain as qualified to link to any other site *including the main domain* and have it's link counted for link reciprocity purposes? Interesting to me is that the page rank varies for each subdomain and can be different from the page rank of the main domain. I had it pointed out to me a few weeks ago that Google counts links from Tripod or Angelfire sites so why woundn't the search engines treat links from other subdomains individually as well. Kind of made sense. Anyway, am I viewing this correctly? Does this mean that if I put a subdomain on my site and load it with similar (not identical) information that I can then exchange links between the two sites and Google will credit both with having another site linking to them? (Yes, I know this in itself would not accomplish much for my dental program site. I'm more interested in the indexing principle here than in actually doing anything for my dental site with the knowledge.) Jim Gatton mpdprogram.com ===== CONTINUING ================================= From: Joann Chokrach Subject: SE spammers > I am new to SE marketing and am in the process of > optimizing my companies web site... I am noticing some > competitors that are consistently in the top positions > but are relatively new to the industry... - Mick Force, LED 1515 While your company has been around since 1968, your website has only been around since December, 2002 (at least that's what your copyright notice says). I don't think it is realistic to expect to be in the top of the search engines after only 2 months. I know you didn't ask for a site review, but I took the liberty of looking at your site, and have a few suggestions: Most of your pages do not use META tags for description or keywords. Some of the keyword tags have line breaks in them, which will prevent the SE from reading beyond that point. You might want to run a HTML code validator on your pages. Some of the errors involving TABLEs will prevent the pages from being seen in browsers other than IE. On Your Home Page, I'd change the title to read "Handicomp, Inc - Golf Information Systems" and I would replace the current description with the text in the left column (beginning with "Established in 1968 ...") On the rest of the pages, I'd use at least the first paragraph of the text on the page in the META Description tag. I would add an "About Us" link to the navigation section - with links to the History (Your "History" page has a different mast head and navigation than other pages), Letter from the President, and add a Contact page that includes address phone number(s) and e-mail contacts for Sales and Support. I didn't see an e-mail link to the Webmaster anywhere on the site. Your copyright notice should read "(C) 2002-2003. The current notice "(C) 2002" makes it look like you haven't done anything with the site in over a year. Joann Chokrach, Webmaster Keidel Bath & Plumbing http://www.keidel.com ------- new post - new topic ------- From: Vicki Lambert Subject: Outsourcing - separated by a common language > One additional consideration about outsourcing to > an offshore company is language differences and > the difficulties that this can cause. - Kathy Wilson Anderson, LED 1515 That is one point that I have happened upon recently but in a different way. You need to be careful about the written word as well as the spoken when having someone from the non US do your website. I am getting offers for websites just recently because of my posting and I recogni"z"ed right away that the person was non US. How, by the quotes I just used in the last sentence. Remember that though the world may speak English it does not spell American ;). If you watch the BBC or read British novels like I do this is very obvious in spelling using s such as recognize. (American spell check won't even let you use the s instead of z . Or the words color / colour and defense / defence etc. I am used to it because I use the BBC website and their communication rooms frequently so I just automatically adjust. But I want to be sure that the person on the other end writes my text for my customers as well. So a question, if a non US source were to do my website, do I have to worry about their spell check not matching my spell check? And a tip to our non US posters. Make sure when sending e-mails for sales you use resume instead of CV, and one time instead of one off. LOL Vicki M. Lambert, CPP Lambert and Associates vickimlambert.com ------- new post - same topic ------- From: Andrey Chashkov Subject: Outsourcing I'm sorry for some "disrespect" but I'd like to comment: Definitely there is a new trend expressed by two recent posts - "US based developers don't like (softly speaking) offshore developers". I think I know why - dotcom disaster made most of US based guys out of the picture. Just 2 years ago they did 50-100 /hr easy and now they have to compete with offshores for 10-20 /hr. What a terrible story... > How is it that offshore developers have the skills > and the experience and US ones don't? How believable > is it that these offshore developers gained those skills > when... the only "clients" these consultants have are > US based? - Nandini Pandya, LED 1512 That's easy - education and experience and competition made offshore developers skilled. When everything was fine (before dotcom problems) onshore developers did not even need to train and get more skilled - there were enough money for everyone. While offshores worked hard to compete and to fight for the clients. That's why millions of them are multi-skilled and more professional. I face with this fact everyday. Another point is that many offshore companies cooperate with each other in their region and are able to build very specific team for any particular needs. Now you let me know - how quick you can build very professional team working in the area you don't but your client really needs right now? Not to mention that in any "offshore" country there is the same IT market as in the US and it's growing constantly. Similar telecom, finance companies, big corporations with big needs, small companied with relatively big needs, and so on. There is enough space to gain any skills. > From knowing some of the offshore developers personally, > I know that a significant percentage lie on their resumes. What is the problem with testing the skills they stated? Just like any US company does when hiring new developers? Indeed, people lie, it happens no matter where they are located. And always you should check them out. > And, you do get what you pay for. A friend hired a web > designer through elance to develop a 10-page web site... > The web site is not yet done. In between the designer was > AWOL for weeks because he was getting married. Yes, hiring through e-matching services is not always good and going for the lowest bidder is almost crash. Well, every time your work with 1 alone independent web master it's very risky. Again - in the US you have the same bad chances. Work with companies, cause they are committed to serve and will be finding another guru in case someone's getting married. Apparently offshore companies are cheaper. And ultimately lower cost means just lower risk for any enterprise. Yes, talents are worldwide distributed and instead of struggling against this situation it's wise to co-operate. You, US based consultants and developers have the necessary business grounds for a partnership with offshores. They complete another part of equation. Why not to just start it? Andrey Chashkov, CEO www.technoart.net ------- new post - new topic ------- From: Jennifer Polen Subject: Contact Info > To also cut the spam to a trickle, we came up with > a handy solution using email aliases. If you have > your own domain, this is no problem to set up. - Jackie Monticup, LED 1515 Remember though, that if you're going to do this you need to make sure that if your domain has the option of a catch-all address, that you disable it or the spam will keep right on coming. Jennifer Polen ------- new post - same topic ------- From: Reg Charie Subject: Contact info Having been caught in the spam loop I came up with a similar system as Jackie Monticup, but with a couple of twists. First my email account has an automatic catchall that automatically redirects any email sent to my domain. This simplifies signing up for newsletters or other subscriptions. If I find the service I signed up with is allowing other marketers to send me unwanted email, I add a redirect to my email mapping to send everything back to the website where I subscribed. Hiding an email address from the harvesting robots can be done by using ASCII code in the source. This will still allow visitors to click on the link rather than having to copy it from a graphic, which often deters a contact. Reg Charie http://dotcom-productions.com/ ==== BILLBOARD ==================================== From: Jim Gill Subject: Domain registration > No doubt there will be some who disagree, but > we have been very happy with GoDaddy... - A Brantley, LED 1515 Yes, GoDaddy is great for low-cost registration and renewals, and offers many values and options. I like it for the account list they create for all the domains you control. However, if your domain is "up for renewal" you will find that you can't transfer registars if your are within 30 days of the renewal. You also cannot transfer on new registrations until 30 days have past. Jim Gill 10netstrategies.com ------- new post - same topic ------- From: Joel Lesser Subject: Domain registration No one has mentioned dotster and we have used them for years... Domain transfers with dotster.com are painless, automated, and surprising without headache. They let you transfer a domain to them for only $8.95 and that pays for 1 year of registration, less costlier than other registrars mentioned previously in this thread. They also charge $14.95 a year for renewals which is a competitive price in this market. Hope this helps everyone. Best Regards, Joel Lesser LinksManager.com ------- new post - same topic ------- From: Ed Seward Subject: Domain registration > Hmm, "transfer request will be automatically accepted" > if I DON'T respond... Assume for a minute that someone > was trying to hijack my domain because they know that > namebay automatically transfers domains... - Rod Aries, LED 1514 This is the reason you should always use Domain Lock on all your domains. With Domain Lock your registrar will deny any transfer request until you notify your Registrar to remove the Domain Lock. This request to remove the Domain Lock notifies your current registrar that you wish the domain transferred and solves this problem. We always use Domain Lock when a client registers a Domain Name using our web site. We sent a confirmation email that explains the Domain Lock feature and will remove it anytime a client requests it to be moved. But an individual is very foolish not using Domain Lock to protect their domains since this feature does not cost anything to implement. Ed Seward inethosts.com ------------------------------------------------------- Copyright 1995-2003 Adam Audette. All Rights Reserved. ----------------------------------------------------------------- "If [technology] keeps up, man will atrophy all his limbs but the push-button finger." - Frank Lloyd Wright |
